Focus Hip Hop

Music Writing with a Focus on Underground Gems

  • EP Review | Zenati & Nejma Nefertiti – Rapoeira

    This project was released on February 10th this year. Nejma Nefertiti is an MC whom I discovered around December of last year, and I was pretty blown away by her technical skill. She’s one of the most exciting artists I’ve discovered in a long ass time. If you want a good taste of what she’s…

  • Album Review | MidaZ the BEAST – The Devil’s Playground

    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…

  • Song Review | Jamal Gasol & Vic Spencer – Kansas City Smackman Vs. Vic Greenthumbs

    This song was released on May 31st this year. Jamal Gasol is an artist whose name I’ve seen floating around the internet for the past couple years. I’ve never actually listened to any of his music though. I had no idea whether he was good or not before checking out this song. Obviously I’m a…

  • Song Review | Kenny Mason – DRACULA

    This song was released on May 31st this year. Kenny Mason is an artist I’ve been familiar with for about two years now. He has two albums that are both good. The last one came out in 2021, and it’s his best work in my opinion. He released a mixtape last year called RUFFS, which…

  • Album Review | Anwar HighSign & Giallo Point – Whatever the Case May Be

    This album was released on May 5th this year. Anwar HighSign is an artist I’ve been aware of for years, but I didn’t start listening to his music really until like 2019. I still need to go back and listen to most of the shit he dropped as Has-Lo. I think the first project I…

  • Album Review | El Michels Affair & Black Thought – Glorious Game

    This album was released on April 14th this year. Before listening to this project, I was completely unfamiliar with El Michels Affair. I still don’t really know much about who they are. I don’t even know if it’s one person or if they’re a group. The reason I chose to check this out was because…

  • Album Review | Vic Spencer – If George Bush Was Cool

    This album was released on April 7th this year. This is the second project Vic Spencer has released this year if I’m not mistaken. The first one was a collaboration with 38 Spesh, which I enjoyed despite its brevity. With that said, I was hoping that this latest project here would be a bit more…

  • EP Review | Onry Ozzborn – The joogs

    This extended play was released on March 24th this year. I think the last time I mentioned Onry Ozzborn on this blog was when he was featured on my favorite Ceschi album, Sans Soleil. Wait, that’s not true at all. I covered the last Dark Time Sunshine album. That project was really great. I’m definitely…

  • Album Review | Navy Blue – Ways of Knowing

    This album was released on March 23rd this year. I think I’ve only ever covered one Navy Blue project before, and I wasn’t crazy about it unfortunately. However, the couple albums that I’ve heard from him since then have been dope. Especially Song of Sage: Post Panic! I kinda regret not covering that one. I…

  • Song Review | Maze Overlay – Danny Ocean

    This single was released on May 23rd this year. Maze Overlay is an artist who I discovered through his feature on Sleep Sinatra’s DIVINENATION album. He released an album with Sadhugold earlier this year called Afghani Gold, which I haven’t listened to yet, but am looking forward to checking out. I’ve only heard like one…

  • Song Review | Jéan P the MC – Sound Blessed

    This song was released on May 26th this year. Jéan P the MC is an artist I’ve covered before in 2020 back when I was doing those Best Singles of the Week articles. I’ve listened to a couple albums from him, and there are usually a handful of songs that I like, but I haven’t…

  • Album Review | Rav – LEAP

    This album was released on March 15th this year. It’s supposedly a companion piece to I’M ON TO ME, which was one of my favorite albums of 2020. In fact, it’s actually one of my favorite albums period. It doesn’t even feel like it’s been that long since it came out to me, but I…