Focus Hip Hop

Music Writing with a Focus on Underground Gems

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  • EP Review | Illingsworth – i’m in the studio, call me back

    This extended play was released on January 25th this year. I don’t really have much to say in this preamble before getting into the body of this review, but I will say that if you haven’t read my review of “this is how i win” you should check that out before continuing with this one.…

  • Best Singles of the Week | 2020: Week 6

    I was pretty satisfied with the music I heard this week, although I must admit that I was more focused on the disastrous Iowa Caucus that took place than anything else. It’s possible that I missed something, but for the most part I think I heard all the notable releases. Sunday, February 2nd TIME 2…

  • EP Review | Illingsworth – this is how i win

    This extended play was released on January 16th this year. Illingsworth is a Detroit rapper and producer who’s done a lot of work with Open Mike Eagle, as well as other Detroit artists such as Clear Soul Forces, Chris Orrick & Nolan the Ninja. He also produced my favorite song from Phonte’s last solo album,…

  • Album Review | The Professionals

    This album was released on January 17th this year. It’s the self titled debut album from The Professionals, which is a duo comprised of brothers Oh No & Madlib. It was announced toward the end of 2019, so it was pretty much the first release of 2020 that I was actually anticipating. With that said,…

  • Album Review | ovrkast. – Try Again

    This album was released on January 17th this year. My first introduction to ovrkast. was his placement on Earl Sweatshirt’s latest release, FEET OF CLAY. He’s responsible for the fantastic instrumental on El Toro Combo Meal, so when I saw that there was gonna be a full ovrkast. album, I made sure that I didn’t…

  • EP Review | Goya Gumbani – A Thousand Months

    This extended play was released on January 17th this year. I was sent a pretty intriguing press release for this project, and saw that Goya Gumbani has worked with artists like Sixpress in the past. I also know that Pink Siifu seems to have some connection to him. I’m not sure if they’re friends or…

  • Tardy Album Review | Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin¿

    This album was released on October 4th last year. At one point Danny Brown was in the ever-changing list of my 10 favorite rappers. He hasn’t really done anything to make me like him less. I still love him and his music. It’s just that I decided there are other rappers that I love even…

  • Best Singles of the Week | 2020: Week 5

    This week was actually pretty damn great for music releases to be honest. I guess there are typically more singles released towards the end of a month? Is that a thing that happens? I don’t know. It kinda seems that way though. Anyway, I’ve decided that I’m not gonna be reviewing literally every single album…

  • Album Review | Eminem – Music to Be Murdered By

    This album was released on January 17th this year. Honestly, I really don’t have much to say in this preamble before checking the album out. I have zero idea what to expect. All the reception I’ve seen has been very mixed. Most of my friends are saying this album is complete trash, although I don’t…

  • Thoughts on the “Director’s Cut” of ROTDIII

    This updated version of Dreamville Records’ 2019 GRAMMY nominated compilation, Revenge of the Dreamers III, was released on January 16th this year, and I figured I’d give my opinion of the 12 new tracks that were added. I did a similar thing with Young Thug’s “Deluxe” version of So Much Fun; I might start doing…

  • Best Singles of the Week | 2020: Week 4

    My bad for posting this so late; I was in New York this past weekend, and I didn’t really have time to work on the blog at all. Sorry about that. The Eminem marathon should be complete by Friday at the very latest. Anyway, this past week thankfully ended up being much better than Week…

  • Album Review | Eminem – Kamikaze

    This album was released on August 21st in 2018. I remember the night it dropped vividly. Well… I mean, I don’t know why I do. Nothing really happened. I just remember being like, “Oh, Eminem dropped another album lol. Hope it doesn’t suck.” According to pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to, it does suck. I’m…