Focus Hip Hop

Music Writing with a Focus on Underground Gems

  • Tardy Album Review | ZelooperZ – Dyn-O-Mite

    This album was released on May 18th this year. I can’t really say I was expecting to enjoy this at all. I’ve never really been a fan of ZelooperZ in the past, although there are a handful of songs from him that I do like. The first project I ever heard from him was his…

  • Album Review | Little Brother – May the Lord Watch

    This album was released on August 20th this year. Honestly, this is one of the best things that’s happened in 2019. Earlier this year, Rapper Big Pooh & Phonte reunited for the first time in almost a decade for a borderline impromptu performance at the Art of Cool festival in my hometown of Durham, North…

  • FHH Update 8-29-2019

    I don’t know if y’all have noticed, but I’m really fucking far behind on music right now, and at this rate, I’ll probably still be stuck in like August by the time the year ends, so I’m gonna have to switch up my formula unfortunately. I was trying to write a full review for literally every release…

  • Album Review | Busta Rhymes – The Big Bang

    Note: This review was written in February of 2019. This album was released on June 13th in 2006. I don’t really know how I’m gonna feel about this project to be honest. I feel like at this point in Busta’s career things were starting to go downhill. The album he released four years prior to…

  • Album Review | Nems – Gorilla Monsoon

    This album was released on May 31st this year. Nems is one of those rappers who I’ve been familiar with for a long time, but I didn’t actually check out his work until recently. Before I heard this project, I went back and listened to his first and second albums from 2010 & 2011, as…

  • Album Review | Various Artists – Gang Related: Wild Wild West

    This album was released on October 7th in 1997. It’s the soundtrack to the film Gang Related, which I posted my review for last Monday. Funnily enough, I was actually supposed to review this project like a year or two ago. Back when I had an active Patreon page, one of my supporters asked me…

  • Mixtape Review | Jace – #FreeJACE

    This mixtape was released on May 29th this year. I pretty much went into this project completely blind. I’d never heard a project from Jace before. In fact, I’d never heard a project from any of the members of Two-9. I’m really not that familiar with the group. The only members I’ve heard are Curtis Williams &…

  • EP Review | Taylor Bennett – The American Reject

    This extended play was released on May 28th this year. At first I thought that it was a full length album, but when I went to listen to it I saw that it only had 8 tracks. I’ve seen some people call it an album, but most publications seem to be referring to it as…

  • Album Review | Chris Orrick – Out to Sea

    This album was released on May 24th this year. I first became familiar with Chris Orrick when he was working in his group Ugly Heroes alongside Verbal Kent & Apollo Brown. That was back when his stage name was Red Pill. He changed it to his government name a few years ago because apparently there’s…

  • EP Review | DUCKWRTH – THE FALLING MAN

    This extended play was released on May 17th this year. DUCKWRTH is someone whose name I’ve been seeing here and there for the past few years, but I haven’t ever actually checked out his music. His name obviously stood out because it made me think of Kendrick. It’s kind of unfortunate that people probably always…

  • Movie Review | Gang Related

    Note: This review was originally written in May of 2018. This movie was released on October 8th in 1997. I don’t watch a lot of movies, so I apologize if I sound like a dumbass in this review. It was directed by Jim Kouf, who I’d never heard of prior to watching the film. The…

  • Rating Diamond D’s Discography

    Diamond D is another one of those legendary artists with a classic album who people don’t really seem to talk about a lot. I guess it’s partly because a lot of people believe he failed to maintain the level of quality he established with his debut album, which kinda makes sense. However, people like 50…