This album was released on May 31st this year. I didn’t really know much about Gripz before trying this latest release out. I had only heard a feature from him alongside J. Arrr, and that was multiple years ago. I know he’s been rapping for at least fifteen years though. Looking through his YouTube page, I see that he’s also done work with artists such as Eto, Ty Farris, and Ransom among others, so that should give you some idea of the type of MC he is. I also noticed a song called “Mumble Rap, Pt. 2,” which was uploaded 6 years ago, where he took aim at Lil Pump and similar artists. It’s pretty cheesy in hindsight, but to be fair a lot of people including myself were on that wave back then. Anyway, I didn’t know if I would like this album or not prior to giving it a listen, although I did see one of my friends talking about it in a Discord server I’m in. I was also intrigued by the placements from V Don & Flu, so I was looking forward to checking it out.
The album begins with Overcoming Chaos Daily, which is produced by Serious Beats.
Part of me was worried that the production would be bland on this album because that’s a common issue I’ve had with some of the associated artists I mentioned in the preamble to this review. Thankfully, that wasn’t really a problem here. This beat is very traditional and straightforward, yet gritty and well-crafted. The one thing that immediately stands out about the way Gripz raps is his vocal delivery. The closest comparison I can think of is ICECOLDBISHOP, but it’s not really the same. There are probably better comparisons I could make, but that’s the one that came to mind. He’s anything but monotone. It’s definitely the type of thing that’s either gonna make or break his music for certain listeners. Personally, I think he sounds really good. I could see why it might be a barrier to entry for people though. It might be cool if he took the Danny Brown approach and switched to a more traditional vocal delivery for a couple songs here and there. Anyway, even before I got a chance to adjust to the eccentricity of the vocals, it was immediately clear that Gripz is a hardcore lyricist. I guess that should’ve been obvious given the other MCs with whom he associates. The first verse was nice, but the second verse is where he really shined in my opinion.
Your false confidence probably is why your ego's soaring
Bullets out the Eagle soaring, carcass rotten, eagles swarming
If you dead there ain't gon' be no warring
Obsessive, so traces never left, there ain't gon' be no warrant
Case closed, I be all the way out in D.R. countin' pesos
With a bitch tanning on Boca Chica, you see how my face glows
I'm too pretty, no pause, Lu gritty
I'll put a whole city under the gravel you fool with me
I'm too witty, in the piece is a cool 50
Dot red, two blickies, hot heads cool quickly
I don’t really love the hook on this track, but it’s not particularly bad at all. It just doesn’t add much to the song for me. I kinda find myself losing patience as I’m waiting for the verses to continue. However, I really like this song overall. It’s very good. The following track is called Snuff Film, and it’s produced by Culxtre. This one’s even better than the opening track to me. I think I just appreciate the straightforward song structure. The entire thing is just one verse with no hook, and it’s fire. The opening quatrain alone is really dope.
I'll organize a snuff film then watch the cinema reel clip
Bunch of actors with fake props, I'll send 'em a real clip
You'll be on a permanent field trip, burner—concealed it
Razor have your face on some Seal shit
I also appreciate how the production has a much slower paced tempo than that of the preceding track. It’s always nice to get some variation in that area. There were a lot of dope schemes throughout this track, such as the Wizard of Oz one or the Dr. Seuss one. One pattern I’ve noticed is that Gripz likes to flip a lot of homophones, which is pretty cool. For example, the “real clip / reel clip” line; he also rhymes “pharmacy techs” with “farm’ll see TECs” which was pretty fire. Anyway, here’s one of my favorite parts of the verse…
If it was beef and you died, I'm still dissin' you
I'll send a link of the track to your family members missin' you
Your son, I make him listen too
Put a iPod under his pillow with that song on repeat for his first missing tooth
The unhinged, bizarrely creative violent imagery in combination with the unorthodox vocal delivery really makes him sound deranged. The best line in the song is probably the aforementioned Dr. Seuss scheme. I would quote it here, but I kinda don’t wanna spoil it for anyone who plans to listen. It’s fire though. This is a really dope song. The following track is the first real highlight on the album for me. It’s called ReLoad, and it’s produced by Formula 2.
I was surprised to hear him rapping over what is basically a NY Drill beat. 99 percent of the time I don’t really enjoy that style of production at all, but I think it works here. At first I was not sure if the beat itself is that great, or if it has more to do with Gripz’s actual performance over it. I think it’s a combination of the two honestly. Gripz is shockingly good at this style. Maybe he’s done it before, but I personally wasn’t expecting to hear anything like this after listening to the first couple tracks. His flow and rhymes sound excellent here.
I am the goat
I'll turn your entire empire to ghosts
I'm dyin' to fire the toast
Your body gone lie in the coast
I also had an audible reaction when I heard his flow during this line in particular…
SKS with the bayonet or the Benelli over under with the two barrels
The first time I played this album I didn’t look at the tracklist at all, so I didn’t know this song was called ReLoad. As a result, when I heard him repeat “RELOAD” in the hook, I laughed. It’s just because I wasn’t expecting it. I thought it was still part of the verse, so when he kept repeating it I was caught off guard. The rising energy level as he delivers those lines added to the humor for me. With the full context it’s not really funny at all, but I thought I should mention that experience I had. Anyway, this is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album, which is funny because this is probably the most lyrically simplistic track. It’s still dope as hell though. I love it. It’s followed by Forever Cooking, which has another instrumental from Serious Beats. I liked the first beat from Serious Beats on this album, but this one is better in my opinion. It just stands out a bit more to me. Anyway, as always, Gripz’s lyricism here is really nice. This line right at the beginning of the first verse was really cool.
You ever cross I, you'll be staring at the nose, that's when your face and the barrel meet
Much like with the opening track, the hook itself doesn’t really contribute much to my overall enjoyment of the song, but I don’t mind it either. It works as a break between the two verses. The second verse was pretty tight. I liked this line in particular…
Once the four is fired shells melt trees
I really enjoyed this track overall. It’s dope. It’s followed by Da Bull Skit #1. I’m never gonna listen to this track again. I don’t really know what to say about it. It’s kinda nonsensical to me. Some guy is just talking about pigeon coops and bullies and whatnot. Then he says something about Mike Tyson and uses what sounds like the F slur, and then he kinda laughs a little bit and it ends. I’m not really sure what the overall point of it is, or who the person speaking is. It’s not even a situation where I think it’s a super wack skit or anything. I just don’t really know why it’s here. I didn’t get anything from it. Thankfully it’s only about 40 seconds long, so I don’t have to think about it too much. Anyway, track 6 is called Mighty Healthy 24, and it’s produced by Formula 2.
As the title indicates, it’s a modern version of one of Ghostface Killah‘s most iconic songs. The beat is basically the same as that of the original, but I feel like Formula 2’s alterations are substantial enough to prevent it from sounding redundant. Lyrically, this track is stuffed with Wu-Tang references, which is really cool.
I went from BBs to Cals, that's my jewelry, desert golden art
I'm always armed with an eagle, word to Tony Starks
Broken TEC, I sold the parts, you never seen a ghost face
Well, you gon' meet quite a few where I'm sendin' you when your soul departs
It get physical, cool it
There is a method cheffin' these 3D-printed guns, don't get clipped with a digital bullet
I don’t know how much handholding I should do for readers in regards to noticing wordplay and stuff like that. I’ll just say that if you pay attention you’ll catch double entendres that incorporate the names of Wu-Tang members. It’s really well done. There’s even a cool Gravediggaz reference. The first verse was really nice, but the second verse is where he really goes in. The Killah Priest reference really stood out to me. I also really liked the YG line. It’s not only the wordplay that stands out in this verse, but also just the rhymes and way that they flow together. He sounds excellent here. This song also has one of my favorite hooks on the album. The background vocals of him singing “let it off” sound really cool. He has one of those voices where I feel like he could pull off a more melodic approach if he wanted to try that out. Anyway, this is definitely a highlight on the album for me. I think it’s dope as hell. It’s followed by 76 Tombstones, which is produced by Serious Beats.
This is probably my favorite instrumental that Serious Beats contributed to this project. It just sounds less dark than the others to me, while still remaining very heavy. It sounds… celestial. I don’t know if that’ll make sense to anyone, but that’s the best word I could think of to describe how it makes me feel. Anyway, at this point on the album there’s kind of a shift in what Gripz is going for. The first half of the project was more focused on memorable songwriting and stuff like that. This part of the record is where he goes ham and cheese on the technical facets of his lyricism with a focus on wordplay. I personally fuck with both approaches, so I’m kinda glad there’s a mix of these two styles on this album. I definitely found myself paying closer attention to what was being said once I got to this track.
My mind horror flicks, my higher power aura lit
I breathe smoke and exhale portal rifts
I found peace where the corpses live, fortunate
Then swam through lava with a snorkel kit
I done bathed in the ether
Seen purgatory, caught fades with the reapers
Soul been through torment, it plays out the speakers
The gun butt heads, send strays out to Beavis
The one artist that I thought of when I heard this song was Cambatta. The main reason is that the religious theme seemed similar to something he would do. It also just seems Cambatta-adjacent sonically. I could definitely see him rapping over this instrumental, and Gripz’s delivery even kinda reminded me of him. Anyway, there really isn’t a single line on this track that isn’t really dope in some way. Again, there’s a heavy focus on wordplay with a lot of double entendres. I guess this is also pretty similar to the type of stuff Ab-Soul likes to do, or did at one point. This is another highlight on the album for me. Gripz really nailed exactly what he was trying to do with this one in my opinion. The religious imagery and wordplay is super well done. The song’s dope as hell. Track 8 is called Drama, and it’s produced by K Fresh. This track is pretty dope, but it’s far from my favorite on the album. I think I’m just not as enthused by the production as I was with the other tracks. The melody of the hook also just doesn’t really do much for me. It’s not particularly bad, but the actual verses themselves are the only parts of this song that keep me coming back. He just sounds really good rapping here. It almost sounded like a diss track to me to be honest, especially because of how the first verse starts.
I heard a riddle that this little rat a chitter-chat
Now a couple of shells is trying to find where Master Spinner at
Sewer swimming, going through channels to Cinemax
I will gorilla slap your bitch ass back to when there was printed maps
I really liked the Resident Evil and Zelda references at the end of the verse. The second verse is pretty crazy.
If drama show, I flip the script into an action flick
The Cannon leak, Brandon Lee, be careful who you acting with
Computer thugs with one Mac and shit
I'm here with a couple of gun safes, and data store all of my backup sticks
I got that flash drive, marvel at ammo canisters
A wild collection of mops, come and speak with the janitor
Snuff film, I wipe the dust, pan the camera
They diss and get sweeped, these clean flows'll handle ya
He killed that shit. That’s definitely one of my favorite verses, at least up to this point on the album. The whole movie scheme he had going was pretty wild, and the way it kinda evolves into a camera/technology scheme is awesome. Again, this isn’t one of my favorite tracks on the album, but the rapping is so good that it’ll keep it in my rotation. It’s followed by Da Bull Skit #2. I actually think this one serves more purpose than the first skit because it kinda introduces the “God of Bars” direction in which the album concludes. It informs listeners of the type of material they’re about to hear. It’s not something that I think is absolutely essential, but I get why it’s here. I’m not gonna be listening to it again, but it at least makes more sense to me than the first one. The following track is called Desperate Measures, and it’s produced by V Don.
The production is of course fantastic. Almost all the other beats on this album pretty much carry the same atmosphere, but there aren’t many artists in that lane who do it better than V Don. Not that the other beats aren’t also really nice. V Don just stands out though. Anyway, I kinda knew that Gripz was gonna go in on this track just based off all the preceding material, so it wasn’t really a surprise that he killed this shit. The first verse was great. I particularly liked that “boardin’ pass” double entendre that he used. I actually really like the hook on this track too. The second verse was also great. This was probably my favorite line…
Your bitch is in the way, I'ma fire over that whore's head like the logo for the Pistons
That’s fire. The song is really dope. The penultimate track is called MotherCraft, and it’s produced by Flu. This one probably has my favorite beat on the whole album. That didn’t really come as a surprise for me though because I’ve been a big fan of Flu and the Lupara crew ever since familiarizing myself with them. This beat is dark and gritty just like all the other instrumentals on the album, but the drums in particular are what make this one stand out to me so much. Well, there are other aspects of the beat that stand out a lot, but I feel like the drums in particular are what bring it all together so perfectly. Gripz killed this shit too. There were a lot of lines that stood out to me.
I left, landed on Mars, and took a shuttle back
Looked up in the sky, made the Hubble crash
Touched the barrel of a pistol, turned the gun to ash
In other words, I'm a product of what my mother craft
Alien, descended out a mothercraft
A year's work for you to me is a subtle task
The light that guide me be the flame from the muzzle flash
Your whole fam'll eclipse, split your son in half
Once again, some of these bars reminded me of Cambatta. Particularly the supernatural imagery. At one point in the first verse Gripz had a really nice five-syllable rhyme scheme going, which was dope as hell. The little instrumental interlude that divides the two verses was a really cool moment in the song, and the way the second verse begins is awesome.
I took a stroll just to heal through this dark road
That's a tough feat for a scarred soul
I sweat bullets and I cough gold
I could tell a scope to light the sky and make the stars glow
This is definitely a major contender for my favorite track on the album. If it’s not number one then it’s top 2. I love it. The closing track is called Bravehearts, and it has another beat from V Don. I think this track is really dope, although I will say that I think more could’ve been done to make this stand out as a more climactic way to end the album. It kinda feels like it follows the same formula as a lot of the material that precedes it. I think something as small as adding a third verse could’ve gone a long way to make this track stand out from the rest. A beat switch would’ve worked too. The beat is very good. It’s a bit more uptempo, but aside from that it doesn’t differ much from the other songs. The content is also more of what we got with every other track, which is cool. Obviously as the title indicates there are references to Nas and some other rappers here. I feel like I may be coming off like I don’t like this track, and that’s definitely not the case. It just doesn’t seem like it wraps things up in a particularly notable way. It doesn’t feel absolutely essential to the overall impact of the record. It’s not a huge deal, but that was my main takeaway. I fuck with it a lot though. It’s a dope track.
This album is great. As I kinda said before, this was basically my introduction to Gripz, and I’m sold. Obviously the hardest sell is gonna be his vocal delivery, which I imagine will be very polarizing to listeners. Personally I think it sounds really cool, but I would understand if someone said they couldn’t take it seriously. There’s a lot more to this than just a funny voice though. I feel like if you’re into battle rap you’ll probably appreciate what he’s doing here. A lot of the lyricism heavily prioritizes wordplay and entendres. As far as subject matter goes, pretty much every song is about guns and/or violence in general, which I guess could’ve been predicted based on the album cover. Some more variation in the content on future releases would help to keep things from getting stale. Also, as I mentioned earlier in the body of this review, maybe alternating between his signature outlandish vocal delivery and a more reserved, conventional style would have that same effect. I would also be interested to hear some more personal lyricism because after listening to this I still don’t really know much about who Gripz is as a person. This album is a lot of threats delivered with strong wordplay. I definitely appreciate well done wordplay in Hip Hop, but it’s far from my main priority when I’m listening to music. I definitely value emotional impact and relatability more than hard, clever lines, at least these days. That’s not to say that music in this style is incapable of blowing me away; it’s just rarer for me. Basically what I’m getting at is that this approach to lyricism is far from my favorite. However, in this case it’s so well done that I still enjoy it quite a bit. There’s not a single song here that I don’t think is worth returning to. I would also like to point out that there are no features on this album, so it’s impressive that he was able to keep my attention throughout the whole project. There are a lot of rappers who I think Gripz would sound good on a track with—particularly other MCs with unique voices and/or deliveries. Maze Overlay and Cambatta are a couple who came to mind while I was listening to this. Anyway, give this album a listen and let me know what you think in the comment section. I think it’s really dope.
Favorite Song: MotherCraft
Least Favorite Song: Overcoming Chaos Daily
82
Focus Hip Hop 
What do you think?