Switzerland’s Wisdumb Releases New Video “Zephy” Prod. By Ozo

Switzerland / India based artist Wisdumb is known for his lo-fi / chillhop / jazzhop, today he shows how the light shines on his blessings in his new video “Zephy” produced by Ozo.

Mach-Hommy – “Balens Cho” (EP Review)

This is the 11th EP from New Jersey emcee Mach-Hommy. Blowing up in the underground off his Griselda-backed sophomore effort H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor), he & Tha God Fahim fell out with them shortly after only to reconcile this past Christmas & then Mach returned to the label over the spring with quite possibly his magnum opus as well as one of the best albums of the year: Pray for Haiti. But in light of his Dump Gawds colleague Your Old Droog dropping Space Bar last week, Mach is continuing to apply pressure by dropping Balens Cho through Nature Sounds.

After the “La Prèmiere Bougie” intro, the first song “Labou” starts the whole thing off with Nicholas Craven weaving in some incredible saxophones wittily talking about being the new Rick Rubin & Russell Simmons whereas “La Deuxième” is just a decent interlude. “Separation of the Sheep & the Goats” incorporates a sweet vocal sample humbly opening up about his blessings leading into the “Magnum Band” sequel produced by the late Ras G which I’ll go as far to say is superior & darker than the predecessor.

After the “La Troisième” interlude, we have Mach talking about making it out the hood rich for “Lajan Sal” accompanied by an instrumental that gives me crazy Italian monster vibes just before the “La Quatrième” interlude comes into play. “Wooden Nickels” is probably the most heart-wrenching cut on the EP cautioning shady motherfuckers while the song “Traditional” cleverly uses the same rhyme scheme throughout over a healthy mix of horns & whistling even though it could’ve been a little bit longer.

After the “La Cinquième” interlude, Tha God Fahim tags along for the penultimate track “Money Magnets” getting on some boom bap shit talking about dominating the rap game & “Self Luh” finishes the EP with Mach encouraging listeners to treat their bodies like it’s the only one they got on top of a comforting beat from Conductor Williams.

I’ve been fiending for this shit hard ever since it was originally announced a month ago & my God is it a great follow-up to Pray for Haiti. The excessive amount of interludes are annoying, but the production is as equally fantastic & Mach still manages to drop bars that’ll make you run it back.

Score: 8/10

Casket D. - "BLESSED" (Video)

Thurgo (@thurgohmmg) - "Bubbly Freestyle" (Audio)

al.divino & Big Ghost Ltd. – “Two Nights in Marrakesh” (Album Review)

This is the latest full-length album from Massachusetts emcee/producer al.divino. For the last 4-5 years, the dude has been steadily dropping music ranging from the Dump Gawd: Divino Edition duology to the Futurewave-produced Kataklizm & the DJ Muggs-produced Kilogram. He’s also dropped a total 6 EPs & 2 mixtapes throughout 2021, but they’ve have been either hit or miss unfortunately. That being said though, I was undeniably excited for 2 Nights in Marrakesh given that one of my favorite producers in recent memory Big Ghost Ltd. was lacing the whole thing from front to back.

“Locusts” is a disgustingly ill opener weaving in a bare guitar loop talking about he’s trying to get rich than drunk whereas “Premium Octane” gets on the hustler shit & the jazzy production is super fresh to me. “Aqua Pyro” goes on to tell the listeners to trust what he rights with a fittingly Hellish tone to the instrumental, but then “Derelict Wisdom” talks about wetting up the block & the drumless beat enhances the seriousness of it to me.

Meanwhile on “Fuck the Covenant”, we have al.divino just going in on top of another guitar wailing in the background proclaiming himself as a product of the ghetto leading into the “Alhambra” interlude which has some dope vibraphone embellishments. I like how “Drunken Monk” sounds like something from a blaxploitation chase scene spitting that blick talk just before “Estevanico” brings in some soothing horns calling out those tough talking through cyber space.

The penultimate track “Malevolence” perfectly lives up to it’s name lyrically & the instrumental that Big Ghost brings to the table send chills straight down your spine. “Byzantine Slang” then finishes the album off on a more calmer note sonically wisely encouraging to teach the babies.

To me, this is the most consistent divino project I’ve heard since Kilo. My only real complaint about it is that it could’ve used a feature or 2, but he really sounds focused & it’s very interesting for Big Ghost to go into a more Moroccan-inspired sound through his production.

Score: 8/10