No Frills Reviews

NAHreally & The Expert BLIP

Following his collaboration with Stik Figa, which was one of the best albums of 2023, Dublin producer, The Expert, teams up with Massachusetts-born New Jersey-based rapper, NAHreally. With The Expert, you don’t just get a collection of beats, you get a score specially crafted to the twists and turns of the lyrical narrative. And the narrative here is NAHreally’s inner monologue-style outpourings of modern day existentialism, from comical self-conscious reflections to casually cutting insights.

Musically, this often plays out like a hip-hop spin on 60’s psych and jazz. The Tomorrow Never Knows-esque twangs on Bubble Wrap teasing at an Eastern jam lurking below a boom-bap throwback. Or the baroque psych-rock turned banger of Why Don’t You?. Meanwhile NAHreally’s raps are like conversational ramblings, allowing you to trace his train of thought as he develops his arguments before sneakily dropping epiphanies about our endless pursuit of culture, the ubiquity of bad news, or just the ridiculousness of requisite rap gesticulations.

But it’s the interplay between music and lyrics which really elevates this. Like the warped production on Breaking Down in Real Time mirroring the gradual bodily decline being described. The flourishes on Rapper Hands which somehow capture the surreal imagery in NAH’s words. And the mood change on All At Once as the beats become weighed down by the album’s heaviest subject matter. All these production touches aren’t just experimental for the sake of it, they add impact and make everything feel more meaningful. Or, at least on That Many of ‘Em, the arbitrary late beat switch gives you 10 seconds of the album’s hardest music.

One of the most interesting producers around gets a stream of thoughtful yet playful rhymes to flow off, leading to a deeply rewarding album.

Best tunes: Smarter Than I Am, Why Don’t You?, Movement & Light

Honourable Mentions

MIKE & Tony Seltzer Pinball

Raz Fresco & Cookin Soul BAKIN SOUL

Milc & TELEVANGEL Extra Phish

CRIMEAPPLE LETHIMCOOK

Schoolboy Q BLUE LIPS

After five years away playing golf, Schoolboy Q returns with his 6th album. It’s inventive, packed with hooks, and offers plenty of lyrical gems. There’s no real weak spots, with each track being at least solid in its own right. But taken as a whole it’s overwhelming. The extensive production credits hint at the issue here as the album feels over-stuffed with ideas to the point it becomes exhausting. The near constant squalls in the background are symbolic of the problem; a jumble of sounds competing for attention. Despite there being so much going on, it’s strangely forgettable as the high points get lost amid all the noise.

Best tunes: Pop, Yeern 101, Love Birds

Tierra Whack WORLD WIDE WHACK

Another coming off a long wait is the debut studio album from Philadelphia’s Tierra Whack. If this had come sooner after her acclaimed 15-minute mixtape, Whack World, then my reaction would probably be different, but almost 6 years later it feels somewhat anti-climactic. This is a natural extension of that tape and shares many of its enjoyable qualities. With varied production, ranging from playful to pessimistic matching the many voices and moods which Whack inhabits. But the sequencing lets it down as the juxtaposition of the deeper moments (which are generally really good) with quirky novelties (which are fun to irritating) ends up undercutting their impact, leaving it feeling a little lightweight. Plus, the melted vocal warble on BURNING BRAINS may be one of the most annoying sounds you could possibly conjure up.

Best tunes: MS BEHAVE, DIFFICULT, 27 CLUB

Future & Metro Boomin WE DON’T TRUST YOU

A star-studded rapper/producer collab, with a scattering of star-studded features; this one does feel like a heavyweight event. But there’s a reason that one Kendrick verse has captured most of the attention (he’s completely right, of course. J. Cole’s catalogue is nowhere near strong enough to be in any ‘Big 3’ conversation. And if you’re including Drake then it’s a completely different conversation).

This is very much just another Future album. He’s been making minor variations on the same thing for over a decade and, despite some standouts, too much of this sounds like tired retreads. The most interesting moments are when he leans into introspection and paranoia, but you’re mostly left thinking he’s getting too old for a lot of this shit. Future may have been an innovator, but he’s going through the motions these days.

Best tunes: We Don’t Trust You, Like That, Runnin Outta Time, Everyday Hustle

Duncecap Pay or Dispute

The latest project from New York rapper/producer, Duncecap, is a collection of stream of consciousness self-reflections and snippets of everyday storytelling set against a backdrop of gently trippy beats. The soundtrack of sliced and stuttering oldies reflects the lyrical restlessness as vulnerable introspection sits alongside moments of absurdist comedy. Relatably honest, funny, and just a little bit fucked up.

Best tunes: Inner Voice, Dirty High, Boundaries

stoop lee RED VERSION TAPE

It’s probably already a stretch to class Detroit’s stoop lee as ‘under the radar’ and it’ll almost certainly not be appropriate for much longer as he seems set for big things. This is the 3rd in a series of Pokémon themed tapes (although non-Pokémon nerds need not fear as, beyond the artwork and song titles, the theme isn’t too overt). Traditionalists beware as this is probably more R&B than hip-hop, but even that is slightly misleading given the blend of styles he employs here.

He displays his rapping chops over dreamy minimalistic R&B beats and funk-rock hybrids. On TIMESKIP he shifts to outright electro-pop, with hints of Tame Impala. And there’s even bigger hints of Brockhampton with his use of sugary sweet pop harmonies. Get on board now as stoop is a crossover star in waiting.

Best tunes: DUNDEE, I JUST WANNA BEACH