This album was released on October 28th this year. Rufus Sims, formerly known as Weasel Sims, is an MC from Chicago whom I discovered last year when he was featured on IAMGAWD’s Murder Castle album. After I heard that feature, I went back and checked out his collaborative album with Jae Haze as The Lil People, Coke Raps, which was pretty good. I also loved his feature on WateRR’s Compendium of Arcanum album with Lupara. This latest album in particular is a pretty big project for him. There was a lot of promo behind this record, and I think it’s supposed to be his best LP to date. The story behind this project is that he was on House Arrest for two years, so a lot of the lyrical content is related to the legal issues he’s encountered. Funnily enough, I ran into some legal issues of my own on the day this was released, so I was really on my “fuck the police” shit as I was listening to it. He released a promotional mixtape called B4 House Arrest a couple weeks before it dropped, which I loved, so that just made me even more excited to listen to this.

---

The album starts with a highlight called Skeleton Key. I really love the production here from H.N.I.C. Logic. I also love the way Rufus starts rhyming before the beat actually drops. The choir that he raps over sounds really cinematic.

I had a talk with the lord
He told me, "Son, walk with your sword"
High black 'cause I seen chalk around my boy
From the rack home of the back door
Welcome to House Arrest
Band on my ankle, draco, standing next to the window like Malcolm X

He just does a really great job of describing what he’s been through on this song. I love how he came back in for a third verse at the end of the song, and that reference to Young Thug being snitched on by Gunna was nice.

I'm from the 'raq, that shit don't scare me, I'm strapped too, double dare me
Shit get deadly, them niggas ain't opps, I'm so hot they tryna fan me
How the fuck you can't stand me, but you stan me?
I turned stumbling blocks to stepping stones
Blessings in disguise, kept my eyes on the prize
Yeah I'm selfish lately, but I had plans to put my whole section on
My records is heroin, my flow is like methadone
These coke raps better than the work your plug been steppin' on
Moved on up like George Jefferson, so high I get my George Jetson on
Booked the whole enterprise, now I'm slidin' to upper echelon
Can't ignore the big signs when niggas givin' snitch vibes
Free my young thugs, it was all slime 'til that young gunna signed on the dotted line
Who you tellin' on?

This is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. I think it’s dope as hell. The following track is called Interrogating Baby Boys, and it features an artist named KID Breeze. I actually like the beat on this track even more than that of the preceding song. This might be my favorite beat on the album. The clip of Bill Duke from Menace II Society fits this track really well too since it’s about interrogations.

Interrogations, I'ma tell you how they go
Two cops gon' walk in, then one gon' close the door
Sit down and tell you they'll help you, "just tell me what you know"
"Then you'll be going home," bitch, get my lawyer on the phone
Don't ever tell 'em shit
Don't let 'em trick you with that good cop, bad cop shit
Most times that be a skit, whole time keep your lips zipped

The first two verses from Rufus are really nice, and I enjoyed the performance from KID Breeze as well. I also love how the beat kinda slows down for the final verse from Rufus, which is my favorite part of the song.

These baby boys too young for me, but I'll do it though
Bullshit, I speak it fluent though
I fell down, but I'm back ten toes down on the ground congruent, ho
Rufus Sims, I'm the truest, ho
That's the real difference, these baby boys ain't really with it
They the splitting image of a gangsta though
You gon' let 'em lead you off the plank fasho
And these waters way too deep for swimming
I took so many L's along the way, now these people don't even peep I'm winning

He killed this track. This one honestly grew on me a lot with multiple listens. I liked it the first time I heard it, but now I love it. It’s dope as hell. Track 3 is called Snowfall, and it features Jae Haze & Ju Jilla. Ju Jilla killed that first verse. I love this couplet…

Your ho a slut, I done screenshotted your bitch
She give mean top in the whip and with ease hop on the dick

The second and third verses from Rufus & Jae Haze are very good as well, and I really like the beat. I’ve heard this sample flipped in other instrumentals before, and it’s kind of hit or miss, but it sounds good here. This is probably the best beat I’ve heard with this sample. Ju Jilla had my favorite verse on this song, but everyone involved did a good job here. I fuck with this song. It’s followed by another highlight called Nowhere. I’m not sure who that is singing on the hook. There aren’t any features listed on this track. I can’t tell if it’s Rufus or someone else. Whoever it is sounds really great though. This might be my favorite hook on the album. It gets stuck in my head every time I listen to it. There’s only one verse on this song, but it’s very good. The melodic production sounds really nice too. This song is dope as hell. Track 5 is another highlight called What Had Hpned. Once again, I really love the production here. This beat in particular sounds kind of celebratory and upbeat. It sounds like what would play in my head when I’m having a good ass day. This song has another one of my favorite hooks on the album too. His flow sounds awesome. Both of the verses are great.

Bond set at 50,000 deep, my record active, made it on deck, shorty showin' disrespect
Niggas playin' phone games, get checked, I'm with all the action
No sweat, two weeks I slept, bonded out and came home out West on house arrest
And my daughter wept when I left 'cause she's just a daddy's girl and she love me to death

The song is dope as hell. The following track is called Enough. This is another track that really grew on me with repeat listens. I really love the hook sung by Zamn Zaria. She sounds really great. The kind of dreamy instrumental sounds really nice too. Lyrically, this song seems to be addressed to a former love interest. By the time the second verse ends, it’s very clear that Rufus doesn’t fuck with this woman anymore at all.

Okay, I'm thinkin' if you're Beyoncé, what would Hova do?
I don't know what the fuck has come over you
Should've put me on notice if you thought I didn't notice you
My intentions was good, but there's another nigga, I know it's true
My hustle harder than most, but you used that as an excuse to get too comfortable
Got my heart colder than it's ever been, it's time for me to get from up under you
Hell yeah, we beefin' and I ain't tryna smother you
From here on out you a opp, and I ain't ever tryna be sociable

I think anyone that’s ever had a relationship sour with someone they used to love romantically will be able to feel this track. I certainly have felt that way before, so this track really resonated with me. I think it’s really dope. Track 7 is called Court Cases, and it features Tree & Gq tha Teacha. The beat on this track really grew on me a lot with repeat listens. I love Rufus’ flow on the first verse too. The hook on this track isn’t really anything special, but it serves its purpose as a break between the verses pretty well. I enjoyed hearing Tree on this song as well. He makes a lot of sense as a feature on this project because he was locked up for a while. The song ends with one more verse from Rufus, which is performed over some beatboxing by Gq tha Teacha through a jail phone. I think it’s really cool that he included this part. It’s very rare to hear beatboxing in contemporary Hip Hop music, so it was nice to have it on this song. It’s a good track. Track 8 is called Don’t Wait 4 Halfway Crooks, and it’s the only song on the album that I don’t see myself returning to. I like the instrumental, but nothing else about this track really stands out that much to me. It’s far from a bad song, and I can enjoy it while it’s on, but it’s not something that I’d have the desire to put on again. The hook from Vel Nine is fine, and Rufus did his thing, but the lyrical content doesn’t really interest me that much. It’s kinda similar to Enough, except slightly less extreme. The verse from GREA8GAWD is well done, but this track just doesn’t have much replay value for me. I still think it’s solid though. Track 9 is called Hood Movies / Minute Left Freestyle 3, and it features an artist named Gabriel Alex. I really like the instrumental here, and Gabriel Alex killed the hook. The first verse from Rufus is nice, and the second one is even better.

I had to make my own lane, we get paid off entertainment
But I come from the pain, man, I can't entertain a lame
Oh, dog, guess I'm just a menace to society
Old school like MC Eiht on wax, but the hoodrats say I favor Kane
Shorties be rappin' bout major pain
Your gun probably shoot blank, man, like Damon Wayans

I liked that line about the blood being thicker than Steve Harvey’s mustache. The first part of this song is really good. The Minute Left Freestyle 3 part is performed by an artist named Tax Free Shaq. It’s basically an interlude in which he raps through a jail phone to Rufus. The verse is very good too. It kinda diminishes the replay value of this track for me, but I understand why it was included here, and it definitely fits in with the theme of the record. Overall, I think this is a very good song. Track 10 is called 10th Park, and it features H.N.I.C. Logic & Josh K. I’d never heard of either of those artists prior to hearing this album, but I really enjoyed both of their performances. H.N.I.C. Logic rapped really well on the first verse, and Josh K sounds nice singing on the hook. The beat is dope too. The verse from Rufus Sims is definitely my favorite aspect of this track though.

Jumped off the porch early, now what they gon' do with us?
Before COVID, we was maskin' up like Ku Klux
Behind bars, my bars got dope enough to shoot it up
True enough, it's time you move the fuck out real niggas' way
You niggas stay in the way, my name hold weight, move the fuck out the way
Fool niggas always stay in the way, still my grind on my own, my hood standing room only
Heavys take the backseat in the presence of bigger homies
I'm ridin' shotgun with a shotgun layin' on me

This is another really good track. I fuck with it. The penultimate song is called Subzero Summers, and it’s even better in my opinion. It features an artist named Panamera P, as well as Jae Haze. I love the sample on this track, and the sung hook is really good. Rufus definitely had my favorite verse on this song.

I ain't tryna go back to county, I done been on every deck
In Chicago the weather cloudy, but it might be sunny next
Then all of a sudden you left wet
I keep a blick with an umbrella clip, you ain't safe with nothin' less

From a technical standpoint, Panamera P probably had the best verse on this song. I just think Rufus’ vocal delivery sounds really nice. Anyway, this track is really dope overall. The closing song is one last highlight called New Day. This was my favorite song on the album on my first listen, and it still might be my favorite. I really love the instrumental here. Rufus’ flow on the first verse is excellent, and I love the melodic hook here.

Deliver like the local postman, they done let a nigga, so I had to leave my stamp
Never let 'em get too close, and focus on the growth, and fuck them folks hatin' in the back

Rufus’ vocal delivery is fantastic too. He just sounds super dope whenever he raps. This shit is fire. I think the song’s dope as hell.

---

^{This album is great. I think Rufus Sims knocked the house arrest theme out of the park. I don’t think I’ve heard another album that tackles this kind of subject matter about criminal justice as well as this. I really loved the soulful production, and, as I said in the body of this review, Rufus Sims’ vocal delivery is exceptional. He just sounds really good whenever he raps. I feel like I really got to know him through this album. This is definitely the best project I’ve heard from him so far, and I look forward to seeing where he goes from here. I can tell from the lyrical content of this album that Rufus is a really resilient person. It’s an inspiring listening experience honestly. I really enjoyed this. Give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments below. Be sure to check out the B4 House Arrest mixtape if you enjoyed this album too. This shit is dope.}

Favorite Song: New Day
Least Favorite Song: Don’t Wait 4 Halfway Crooks

80