Rapid Fire Reviews: Hip Hop Collaborations

I'm pretty sure there's more rap music out there than I could possibly critique in a single calendar year, much less alongside all the other stuff I'd like to review. Once again I'm doing my best to cover some of the more critically acclaimed and relevant hip-hop records of the underground this year.

Nothing To Declare - 700 Bliss

700 Bliss is a collaborative project between queen of the underground Moor Mother and DJ Haram. The project's first release was the Spa 700 EP all the way back in 2018 and they're now adding on to a very prolific streak for Moor Mother in the past few years with a full length debut. Like many Moor Mother projects, this one is particularly hard to define with conventional genre labels and even across the record's first run you'll get tracks with stuttering electronic beats that are more dance than hip hop and features singing muddled but easily identifiable pop melodies. The relatively short song lengths and 16 tracks that make up the record give Moor Mother and Haram the freedom to explore pretty much any idea that comes over them and while it does result in some massive highlights there is an inconsistency to the quality and presence of the record throughout. On highlights like the singles Candace Parker and Bless Grips as well as deep cuts like Discipline and More Victories Moor Mother's intoxicating delivery and impressive lyrical game shine brightly through the thick mixing and loud beats. With this album, it's less about whether each individual experiment is working and more about the sensation of following its dizzying journey as it unfolds and never being sure what to expect along the way. So while there are sounds and songs that I can critique here as missing the mark they do seem to serve a greater purpose that helps set up unexpected and much more rewarding moments elsewhere in the tracklist. 7/10

Aethiopes - billy woods

So maybe I'm cheating on this one. While it may not be a collaboration in namesake, the wall-to-wall production from Preservation is certainly in the spirit of collaboration and in the lead-up to the record I even saw some people classifying it as a "billy woods & Preservation" album. billy has been a major presence in underground hip hop for well over a decade now and I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been quite as crazy about his work as other critics. While he has such a distinctive voice and such an intense delivery I've often found that alone doesn't hold my grip for the length of an entire album. I reviewed the previous two Armand Hammer projects and while I liked them both they didn't blow me away at nearly the same level they did for other critics, so that's what I expected from this. I mention the production right at the start because this is EASILY the best set of instrumentals I've ever heard billy woods rapping on and that takes a huge burden off of him in terms of carrying the load for interest on the record. It's really the crashing start of the record's second track No Hard Feelings that first really draws me in with both an unforgettable beat and some evocative lyrics that I can't stop thinking about. As usual there are dozens of excellent lines throughout this record with creative and strikingly unique wordplay, but I also have to give this record credit for that level of potent lyricism extending to the concepts as well. While many of these songs bounce around quite a bit occasionally there is one with lethal topical focus and it always makes for a big highlight. The middle of the record is packed full of features and they're a generally solid bunch though they do have difficulty holding up to the level of Woods himself. The major exceptions would be Elucid's standout verse on NYNEX and the records best track Heavy Water which sees billy trading verses with El-P and Breeze Brewin with fantastic chemistry all around. I think this may be my favorite billy woods project yet. While his storytelling and lyricism still fail to grab me quite as much as an artist like Ka for instance, the improved quality and variety of beats on this record combined with Woods' standout moments throughout make it a very enjoyable listen regardless. 7.5/10

Killing Nothing - Boldy James & Real Bad Man

In recent years Boldy James has become one of the most talked about rappers in the hip hop underground and I've covered his work on the handful of occasions where it really felt like he stood out such as on 2020's Manger On McNichols and 2021's Bo Jackson. But like many artists as prolific as Boldy not everything comes out great and records like Super Tecmo Bo and the record that precedes this in the Boldy and RBM Real Bad Boldy, show off just how inconsistent Boldy can be with this high volume of work. Because he's become such a ubiquitous artist in the underground hip hop scene and I've noticed a few positive reviews towards this new album I wanted to get some thoughts out on it. Honestly while I can't tell if this is necessarily the worst project in Boldy's recent run, I can say it's certainly the least essential. One thing I was surprised to hear on the record is how many of the early tracks come paired with extremely stiff beats. Honestly the production in general doesn't really do much for me across the record and many of Boldy's best punchlines have the edge taken out of them by the kind of ugly vocal processing used. Thankfully Boldy's talent for delivering clever lines whose impact are increased by his reserved delivery does shine through on this record just like almost all of his others but rare is the song that he completely takes over with his lyrical ability or compelling refrains. Songs like All The Way Out and a handful of tracks on the record's closing run such as Seeing Visions manage to be hard-hitting from pretty much start to finish but not all the songs have this luxury. Other highlights include Open Door which sports the record's two best features and Cash Transactions which delivers its best hook. So yes, despite the positives here and there I came away from this album not very impressed with Boldy and even less impressed with Real Bad Man's production. Though I'm sure we will hear from Boldy again before the year is out and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he turned around and dropped something better and more focused in a hurry. 5.5/10