This album was released on February 3rd this year. The only other project I’ve ever covered from MidaZ the BEAST is his LIVENIGGARAP EP, which was pretty great. After that, he dropped a couple projects in 2022 called 87 & 84. I enjoyed 84. 87 was decent. Those albums just felt too scant since most of the songs were under two minutes long. They just felt like collections of verses rather than full albums with fleshed out songs. I was worried that this album would have the same issue since the songs are kinda short here as well, but that thankfully wasn’t a problem. Anyway, this one is fully produced by Delle Digga, who also made the instrumentals on those aforementioned albums. I didn’t really know how much I was gonna enjoy this album prior to hearing it, but I was hoping that it would be good just because I love the album cover so much. Thankfully, I wasn’t let down.

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The album begins with an instrumental intro from Delle Digga entitled Jimmy Ain’t Lie. It’s a lot jazzier than I was expecting anything on this project to be. The piano sounds amazing honestly. It’s a really short track, but I enjoyed it a lot. I think it’s dope. The first actual song is a highlight called Mass Healing. The production here is pretty amazing. The electric guitar sounds absolutely fantastic. MidaZ killed this shit too.

In my Pimp C pose, I'm princely like a principal
And this here, Ric Flair wrist wear on principle
That's word to Prince Po
You know what's up, I'm showin' up through Clint smoke
I'm ghost on microphones, no fingerprints show
Bespoke suits, he spoke truth, no misquotes used
How his moves don't resemble most dudes
Consumed with being whom they toast to
When glasses clink they confused
He win when he ain't s'posed to
And flash a wink
Never was the first to act and last to think
These is dead sea scrolls wrote in long-lasting ink

I definitely misquoted that fourth bar. I doubt he said “Clint smoke,” but that’s what it sounded like to me. Anyway, this is one of my favorite songs on the album. In fact, it might be my number one favorite track. I don’t know. I haven’t chosen a favorite song yet as of Sunday, May 28th. This shit is dope as hell though. I love it. The following track is another highlight entitled Playground. MidaZ’s flow really stood out on this track. It’s relatively fast-paced. He killed this shit.

Screw it
Truth is it won't happen 'less I rise and do it
I was tired of losing
Prepped myself to handle any spiral moving
No surprises who was in disguise of Judas

Even though the flow is faster and the song is technically longer, this track somehow feels shorter than the preceding one to me. The soulful, sample-based production is really nice, and MidaZ sounds great over it. The hook is pretty simplistic, but the lyrics are very cool.

I let the swing sway on the Devil's playground

This is another one of the best songs on the album in my opinion. I think it’s dope as hell. Track 4 is called Weight in Water. The production here is really chill. I really like the percussion. The hook is pretty good, and MidaZ killed the verse.

From coded languages of dots and dashes, we've prepared stunts
They spoke in grunts, they couldn't hear us from the air ducts
The beast with no mark lifted, brain signals travel
Knocked out the park distance, blades wave when great sharks visit

The song’s got a pretty straightforward structure. Since it’s kinda short, there’s only time for one verse. It’s really good though. This song didn’t blow me away like the preceding couple did, but I still really enjoyed it overall. I really enjoyed the jazzy outro as well. I think the song’s dope. It’s followed by Smoke. I think the production here is actually pretty awesome. It definitely grew on me a lot. I liked the beat at first, but now I love it. I think MidaZ’s voice sounds perfect over it. Again, the song’s really short, so there’s just time for one verse. There’s no hook. The verse is fire though. I feel like Earl Sweatshirt would sound amazing over this instrumental, especially if he reverted to the style that he employed on Doris. Anyway, this song is really great to me. I love the production, and MidaZ fits over it perfectly. This track is dope. It’s followed by El Cantante. On my first listen of the album, this was one of the weaker songs to me. However, it’s kind of grown on me. I really like the horn sample, and MidaZ sounds really good on it.

Foot on they neck soon as they tappin' in
Parents cacklin', I chicken wing 'em, Bob Backlund
Style picked from derelict times
You know the heritage, the heretics ain't ever lynch mine

The hook at the end of this track is pretty nice too. Again, this track really grew on me. There’s only one verse, but the song doesn’t feel that short. I mean, I guess it isn’t that short. In the grand scheme of things it is, but compared to some of the other songs on this album in particular it’s a good length. I think it’s dope. The following track is called Juice, and it’s even better. I love the relatively energetic production from Delle Digga, and MidaZ’s vocal delivery feels more animated than usual. I love the first verse on this track, and the hook is pretty nice as well. This is the longest song on the album, which I guess isn’t really saying much since it’s still only three minutes and thirty seconds long. It feels more fleshed out than most of the other tracks as a result of it’s longer length. The beat switches up a little after the halfway point, which is pretty cool. I don’t know which part of this instrumental I prefer. Both of the beats are really nice. MidaZ killed the second verse too.

When some was stressed for gettin' in, I was pressed for gettin' out
The color shiftin' on my chin, nothin' switchin' from the mouth
I never made the Guinness book, was known to sip the Guinness stout
Ain't count the minutes in the moment, only made the minutes count
Sometimes I cast a large shadow, sometimes I cast doubt
Ask the ladies 'bout the arrow, see if they laugh about
Once I took the fast route, usually was the last out
In the game had no fault, coach would chew my ass out

I don’t really have any complaints with this one. I think the song’s dope. Track 8 is another highlight called Kegels. This song easily has one of my favorite beats on the album. This instrumental is amazing. It sounds like some classic dusty shit that could’ve come out in the 90s. I mean, I guess that could be said about most of the beats on this album. This one is really awesome though. The song’s just 76 seconds long, but it’s so good that I don’t even mind the brevity. MidaZ sounds amazing over this beat.

I John Hancock'd the D, my deeds is different
How I go 'bout smackin' my lips, I'm doin' kegels spittin'
He took a while to find, a beagle sniffed him
A small mind, he but a child, I had a eagle lift him

This might be the best song on the album. I don’t know. Again, I still haven’t chosen a favorite track. This shit is fire though. I think it’s dope as hell. The next song is called Sugar Water, and it’s got another one of the better instrumentals on the album in my opinion. The saxophone and vocal samples sound fantastic. As always, MidaZ killed the verse here.

I made the change, the boy was a piss poor youth
And now they analyze his moves in different Discord groups
And Telegram chats
They probably thinkin' he ain't worth it, but won't tell the man that
They never seen a shootin' star, right? 'Specially during daytime
Never cared for baseball, still was runnin' them baselines

The song is really dope. It’s followed by Watching, which is one of the weaker songs on the album to me, but I still like it. I honestly don’t really get much enjoyment out of the first 45 seconds of this song, which feel more like an interlude than anything. Once the actual beat comes in the song gets pretty good though. This definitely isn’t one of my favorite instrumentals on the album, but I like it to some extent. I actually like MidaZ’s relatively slow-paced flow at the beginning of this track. It gets more intricate and aggressive as the song progresses.

Days where it's cold out, look, we finna roll out
Freeze a nigga chest, no time to pull his coat out
Heard him talkin', tell a czar to rip his throat out
Pharaoh get these niggas, all he did was flash the teezy at us, no doubt

I definitely misquoted some of those lines—particularly the third one. That’s what it sounded like to me though. Anyway, as I said before, this is far from a highlight on the album for me, but I definitely still like it overall. I think it’s pretty good. Track 11 is called Hercules. This is another one of the weaker songs on the album to me, but I still really like it. I really fuck with the melodic, soulful production. My one gripe with this song is the manner in which it ends. The verse just kinda fades out as he’s rapping, and then it’s over. I personally don’t like when rappers fade their verses out because I want to hear how they end properly. It’s particularly frustrating on this track because MidaZ found a really nice pocket with his flow right at the end of the song. That’s just a nitpick though I guess. The song itself is definitely enjoyable overall. The verse is nice, and I love the instrumental. It’s a good track. It’s followed by Nowhere, which is another song that grew on me a lot.

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I actually don’t know why I didn’t like this song as much on my first listen. I think it’s really great now. The melodic production sounds fantastic, and MidaZ killed it. His flow is mad nice here. This is also one of the longer songs on the album, so it feels more fleshed out than a lot of the other tracks.

Reduced to six degrees, a separation of three
Produced his expiration date, my preparation a fee
They movin', we cruisin', coops of stupid music loopin' lowkey
It's never love, I'm hopin' Cupid's deceased

This actually became one of my favorite songs on the album. I think this is one of the best performances I’ve heard from MidaZ. He did a fantastic job here. I love it. The song’s dope as hell. The following track is called Laz Pit.

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Unlike the preceding track, this song grew off of me slightly. I still fuck with it though. Once again, I really dig the soulful boom bap production, and MidaZ’s rapping over it is great. This is another very short song, so that’s probably why I don’t love it as much as the others. It definitely could’ve been fleshed out a little more. I like the beat though, and the rapping is very good. It’s a good song. The music video is really cool too. The penultimate track is called Must Be the Devil. This one is just under two minutes. It’s got one of my favorite instrumentals on the album, and MidaZ’s rhyme patterns over it are really nice. Again, due to the brevity there’s only room for one verse, but it’s very good. I think I liked this song more on my first listen of the album, but I definitely still really fuck with it. I think it’s dope. The closing track is one last highlight entitled Voices.

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At first I was afraid that this would just be an instrumental because MidaZ is completely silent for the first half of the song. He eventually comes in to spit though, and his flow is really nice. The beat itself is very melodic and pretty. I love it. That’s the main reason this song stands out from the others so much to me. I think this beat is amazing, and it just gets better the more I listen to it. The song’s dope as hell.

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^{This album is great. I think this is definitely MidaZ’s best album since Where the Sidewalk Ends, which was also great. I’ve never heard a verse from him that wasn’t dope, so the quality of his music is pretty much dependent on how good his production is. Thankfully Delle Digga came through with some of the best beats I’ve heard him rap over. If you’re a fan of traditional, boom bap Hip Hop then you’ll most likely dig this album. The songs are technically pretty short, but most of them don’t feel undercooked at all. I think some more diverse song structures could’ve pushed some of these tracks to the next level, but there aren’t any that I don’t like. There are no features at all, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your perspective. I don’t really have a preference personally. I don’t think this album needed features. MidaZ held it down on his own. I look forward to seeing how he follows this project up. This shit is dope. Check it out and let me know what you think.}

Favorite Song: Kegels
Least Favorite Song: Watching

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