Patreon supporters received access to this write-up on November 23rd

Last year I reviewed the first entry in Fat Hippy Records’ Anniversary Compilation series, and I thought it was pretty good. I was pretty curious to see how my homie Z. Younk, who runs Fat Hippy Records, would follow it up. Just to be clear, Fat Hippy Records is a record store in Brookfield, Ohio. It’s not a label or anything like that. Anyway, once I saw the tracklist for this compilation, I was pretty intrigued. There are a lot of names here from artists of whom I’m a big fan, including SINAI., Teller Bank$, Fatboi Sharif & Steel Tipped Dove, and more. This compilation is over an hour in length, and just under 30 tracks long. Since this isn’t a full review, I’m just gonna be discussing some of what I consider to be the highlights. However, it should be noted that there are other songs on this project that I do like, which I won’t necessarily be writing about here.

One of the qualities of this project that I initially observed was the album cover. I noticed that the background image appears to be a cornucopia of marijuana plants. That immediately informed me that the theme for this project was “music to smoke to” or something akin to that. I recently relinquished my status as a hardcore stoner, so I imagine I would have enjoyed this release more if I listened to it 4 or 5 months ago. With that said, I smoke on rare, special occasions, so it’s not like there’s no context in which I can fully appreciate this release.

The first track that stood out to me in a really good way is The Price, which is performed by Teller Bank$. There aren’t really any production credits for this track in particular, so I’m assuming he did the beat himself. The production here is pretty mellow and smooth without sounding too lackadaisical or tedious. It’s a good instrumental. Teller Bank$’s rapping here is impeccable. His flow and vocal delivery are just as fire as always, and the writing is excellent. I wanna describe the combination of his flow and rhyme schemes as “verbal acrobatics.”

I used to wanna be a star like the back of a starter jacket
Breakin' necks in traffic, cash big as a draft pick
Relaxin', bettin' stacks on paper shot in the trash bin
So much money on the table, we usin' that shit for napkins
Make the bag do gymnastics when the pack hit
Lost in the city of madness, gun clappin'
Lights, cameras, 'bout that action if it's crackin'
Brag 'bout killin' and sellin' crack to black men

The entire track is just one verse, so it doesn’t feel super fleshed out or intricate in terms of songwriting. Well, there is kind of an outro/refrain after the following quatrain that I like a lot…

You either get busy livin' or you gettin' busy dyin'
Life short, but it's the longest thing you do same time
You got talents and intelligent, need to start applyin'
Every nigga is a star, remind 'em to keep shinin'

This is easily one of the best songs on the album. I don’t really have any complaints. I mean, I see why this didn’t make it onto a full project from Teller Bank$ himself because it sounds more like a demo than an album cut, but it’s still very enjoyable to me. I think it’s dope.

Track 7 is called Life Like, and it’s performed by LUNAR. Once again, I’m assuming this track is self produced. This is the classic style that I love from him. The beat sounds kind of video game influenced, and LUNAR’s lyricism is quite entertaining. I have always appreciated the comedic disrespect in his writing, and this track is no exception.

Your mother gorgeous, she want me to taste the sugar on her peach ring
Plus the corset huggin' the bee stings
I had her sellin' Newport baggies full of beans off of Spring Street
I throw hands like Kirby before Melee
In college I was known as Jimmy Graham, spendin' tight ends on the weed leaves
Got your girlfriend twerkin' for Elon bucks on the feed
Native Americans traded corn for worthless beads
Now we call friendship corny and worship jewelry
Scratch your cornea with a corn chip for the jury verdict
…Doobie smell like persimmons

I personally have never had any interest in any sports, so I had to do a Google search for Jimmy Graham, and based upon my research I have concluded that the line is indeed fire. This song actually contains a hook, so it just feels less skeletal than most of the other tracks. It’s easily another one of the best songs here.

The next highlight for me is Thoughts 16, which is performed by JUNE! over a pis.i beat. For new listeners of JUNE!, their vocal style may be jarring. The first time I heard them rap, I actually thought they sounded really cool, but then there was a bit of time between then and the next time I heard them. The second time I heard JUNE! I was like “what are they doing?” I think what helped me understand and warm up to the vocal delivery more was the comparison to Trae tha Truth. I actually was turned off by Trae’s vocal approach when I was first exposed to him as well, but he grew on me a ton. Thinking of JUNE! as a descendant of Trae’s style definitely bolstered my appreciation for their music. Anyway, this beat from pis.i is fire, and JUNE! fits over it super well. I don’t know much about pis.i other than the correct pronunciation of their name, so I’m not sure exactly where they’re from. I’m wondering if there’s an NC connection there since JUNE! is from Charlotte. I kinda hear a classic NC Hip Hop sound in this beat, but I could be pulling that out of thin air. I guess it actually sounds more “abstract” than something like a 9th Wonder beat. It likely takes more influence from artists who are adjacent to [slums]. As far as JUNE!’s rapping goes, the delivery is something you’ll either love or hate. I personally kinda love it. I think the way he writes warrants the delivery.

Game stopped bein' fun
Yeah, we still run
When, really, will I be done?
Nigga ain't had none
But the hunger held close to growth
How long can the soul really push? Who would know?

JUNE! really isn’t an artist you’re gonna understand on first listen. If you’re an open-minded listener and willing to give the music the time it deserves, you’ll start to understand. That’s what happened with me at least. This is beside the point, but I will say Perseverance is my favorite album title of 2024 as of November 21st. It feels like a year-defining title for me. I love it. Anyway, this song is really dope, and it transitions into the following track super well.

Dreams is performed by JazzZ, sometimes referred to as WHOBEJAZZZ. This immediately stood out as a major highlight for me when I listened to the project. I really love the simplistic, minimalistic acoustic guitar loop. What JazzZ was able to do with such a straightforward instrumental is really impressive. The loop doesn’t really evolve at any point, but the sung performance does. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as a “crescendo” personally, but one might think of it that way. There’s just a lot of layering going on with the vocals. It sounds fantastic. Her soft vocals fit with the tone of the beat in a really pleasant way. It kinda reminds me of the Norah Jones & Andre 3000 collab to an extent. I think it’s fire.

Track 14 is called No Zaza, No Entry, and it’s performed by cunabear over a Bloodmoney Perez beat. After hearing this, I feel like a cunabear album produced by Bloodmoney Perez is a really good idea. This track went over really well. The title of the song is a mindset I used to relate to, but not really anymore. I still appreciate the perspective though. cunabear’s writing here is amazing too. At first I found it pretty silly because I wasn’t paying much attention. The one line that jumped out at me was “her pussy so wet, it washed away my sins.” It’s actually a really romantic song though. I wonder who or what he’s talking about. I’m at a stage in life where I see and hear metaphors in everything. I mean, I guess I’ve been that way since I first started college, but it became kind of problematic at first. I’m just now getting to a point where I’m not overthinking everything into something it’s not, and abstaining from “zaza” is helping me do so. That’s just me though. It’s only beneficial when I do it in moderation on rare occasions. Why am I talking about this? Anyway, the song’s really dope. This is actually like the first time I’ve really enjoyed a solo track from cunabear, so I look forward to seeing not only how I develop as a listener, but how cunabear continues to develop as an artist.

Radio Freestyle is another track from Teller Bank$, and it sounds very different from The Price. Part of me feels like this was an actual freestyle. That’s not to say it isn’t fire—it is—but there are just little signs that indicate to me that he may have been coming off the dome with it. Maybe certain parts are freestyled and other parts he had memorized. I don’t know.

Fuck you doin' chillin' at the track? Nigga, bag somethin'
Niggas be the police, and they came to tag something
Relapsin' back to my last hustle
Swear the last 10 summers each been my last summer

That’s so fire. This dude is incredible, man. I definitely understand why Z. Younk gave him two whole tracks on this project. The beat is fire too. The vocal sample and piano sound amazing. I love the song.

Track 22 is called And That’s When I Realized. It’s performed by Deleteeglitch, whom I’m mad at myself for not writing about more. This dude is super talented and very unique. His production is very eclectic, and he has kind of a Quasimoto-type conversational vocal delivery at times. This song in particular is produced by an artist by the name of Scoops. I had never heard of them prior to checking out this compilation, but I really love this beat. I feel like Deleteeglitch’s flow has improved a lot in the timeframe that I’ve been listening too. Also, the writing here is honestly amazing.

The window said that I can soar; the screen corrected it, like, "more like hover"
I would've given it the old college try, but I couldn't get my shift covered
Realistic depictions of panic when he liftin' the granite
Or the graphite… Or the lead… Whatever it is I use when I'm slammin'
I focus my attention on the sandman, with the merlot I couldn't handle the tannins
I wish I could say that this was the vision, but, shit, honestly, who could've planned it?

I love it. I can’t wait to start working on my backlog so I can hear his latest releases. This song is really dope.

The last song I wanna mention is the closing track, Free Write. This one is performed by Rhys Langston, and is co-produced by nahhphet. It’s the best song on the project. The instrumental has kind of a psychedelic, dreamy atmosphere to it, and Rhys Langston’s lyricism is boiling hot fire. If you’re the type of person that is averse to anything adjacent to Spoken Word, then you may not appreciate this as much as I do. I am painfully aware of the power of words, and I think Rhys uses them in a very beautiful way. I will say that I think the song could’ve had a better ending sonically because it does feel like the beat kinda just cuts off abruptly. However, that’s a minor nitpick. The song itself is amazing overall. I will admit that I don’t have an interpretation for most of the lines here, but I know I’ll be able to apply meaning to them after multiple listens. I’m just loving everything about this stylistically already. I think it’s fantastic.

---

^{This is an okay project. It’s a compilation, so I wasn’t necessarily shocked that there was some fluctuation of quality from song to song. Most of the tracks here are either mediocre or pretty solid with a dearth of replay value. I definitely wouldn’t say this is a must-listen project by any means, but that’s in no way a dismissal of its value. I just would say that this is for hardcore underground rap nerds to skim through and find their favorite tracks because the likelihood of you being able to enjoy this all the way through with no skips is pretty low in all honesty. It’s a compilation though, so you shouldn’t expect to be able to listen to it like a cohesive album. I would consider this project a success despite disliking a few songs and being indifferent to many of the others. A lot of the instrumental tracks were too minimalistic and repetitive for my taste, and certain vocalists sounded a lot better than others to me. Not necessarily because of their vocal ability, but more so because of their songwriting skills. I’m generally not a fan of singers just vocally riffing aimlessly. Anyway, as you all have noticed by now, I no longer do numerical ratings in my reviews. However, Z. Younk asked me to make an exception for this project, so it would probably land somewhere around a 64 for me. Again, I think this compilation is okay. I certainly prefer the first one, but this one was an entertaining experience for me as well, and it’s possible that it could grow on me more in the future.}

Favorite Song: Free Write
Least Favorite Song: Billy Madison (Noblonski Remix)

C