Focus Hip Hop

Music Writing with a Focus on Underground Gems

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  • Album Review | Inspectah Deck – The Movement

    Inspectah Deck of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan delivers an adequate rapping performance over subpar instrumentals with weak hooks, resulting in a tedious listening experience for his second solo album. While not totally devoid of any redeeming qualities, the majority of the 2003 record is mediocre at best.

  • Initial Thoughts on “Not Like Us” Music Video

  • Don’t Sleep | Duncecap – Pay or Dispute

    Don’t sleep on this latest album from Duncecap like I almost did. It was released on January 26th this year, and I remember hearing about it when it came out. However, for whatever reason I forgot to add it to my itinerary, so I didn’t end up checking it out until now. It might’ve had…

  • Thoughts on “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends”

    Mastodon

  • Album Review | Gripz – The Offering Plate

    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,…

  • Album Review | Pastense – Sidewalk Chalk, Parade Day Rain

    This album was released on June 7th this year. Unless I’m forgetting someone, I believe Pastense was my favorite discovery of 2023. He instantly won me over with the Good Will Cutting EP, and the rerelease of his Paper Cuts & Aged Spirits LP was my favorite album of December 2023. I went on to…

  • Redux Album Review | Atmosphere – God Loves Ugly

    This album was released on June 11th in 2002. I recently posted a list of my 25 favorite albums of all time on Twitter, and this project landed at number 6. Long time followers will remember when I reviewed this for my Atmosphere marathon in 2016. For those unfamiliar, I used to do this thing…

  • FHH Update 5-31-2024

    What’s up guys. I just wanted to post a quick note here to let you know that issue #4 of DEF Magazine is available for purchase physically and digitally. It features a review that I wrote for the collaborative album by Sunmundi & klwn cat, Lived & Born, which is easily one of the best…

  • Album Review | Kembe X & Hippie Sabotage – Sleep Paralysis

    This album was released on March 15th this year. I’ve only written about Kembe X one time on this blog, and that was all the way back in 2016 when my reviews were still trash, but he’s become one of the most exciting artists on my radar. I was in love with his album from…

  • EP Review | Stik Figa – The Soil Songs EP

    This extended play was released on March 1st this year. I’ve been covering Stik Figa since 2019, and I don’t think I’ve heard a single project from him since then that I haven’t liked. He was nice in the 2010s, but I feel like he’s been releasing the best music of his career so far…

  • The Best Songs of February 2024

    Here’s the playlist of my favorite tracks from this past February. I apologize for how long this took, but I didn’t really start listening to music heavily this year until May started since I was so busy with school this Spring. Shoutout to Rhymefest for releasing my favorite album of February. Overall it was a…

  • Don’t Sleep | Spectacular Diagnostics – If You Feel Like a Lost Soul

    Don’t sleep on this latest album from Spectacular Diagnostics. It was released on February 26th this year, and it’s the best instrumental project I’ve heard so far in 2024. This is only my second time hearing a release from Spectacular Diagnostics. The other project I heard was an album called Raw Lessons, which came out…