Week 18
30/01/23 A mix of old and new in this edition - been a slow month for new releases. Rome Streetz - KISS THE RING Griselda just do not miss. My latest discovery from the underground hip-hop label comes by way of Rome Streetz. This album feels like the 1999 (Joey Badass) of coke rap. Not in regards to its significance, but for the flows, rhyming, and bars. The dude just reminds me of old Joey, and the quality of this project reminds me of what Joey was doing on 1999. Rome just delivers punchline after punchline for most of these tracks, especially the first few where he hits you straight out of the gate. The first few tracks set the tone of the album with multisyllabic rhymes intertwined with bars to knock you off your feet. The production is actually fairly accessible in the boom-bap sense. It's not too dark and grimy, with Conductor Williams demonstrating a masterclass in sample chopping and looping. Even with 17 songs, all the beats sound distinct and different in their own right,...