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Fliptrix’ 11th Album “Dragonfly” Prod. by the Leigh Brothers Unpacks a Tumultuous Year (Album Review)

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Brighton, England, United Kingdom emcee Fliptrix teaming up with the Leigh Brothers consisting of Illinformed & Leaf Dog to have them produce his 11th solo LP. The founder of High Focus Records as well as a member of The Four Owls, he made his debut in 2007 off Force Fed Imagery followed by Theory of Rhyme and later 3rd Eye of the Storm & The Road to the Interdimensional Piff Highway. Out the Box & Polyhymnia both came couple years later as did Patterns of Escapism & Inexhale, but is coming off Light Work & Mantra #9 to unleash the Dragonfly.

“Striving” starts by stripping the drums completely hooking up a bare orchestral loop forever making great efforts to achieve or obtain more whereas “Forever” has a bit of a soulful boom bap flare instrumentally talking about having springs in their steps representing that. The acoustic “Keep Going On” wants to know if they can continue to go on with their lives since they’re unsure of it, but then “Dragonfly Steeze” featuring Jazz T works the kicks & snares back in flexing their titular styles.

Moving on from there, “See it in the Clouds” delivers a cloudier boom bap flare forecasting rain that’ll be coming down feeling it in his bones leading into “Make It Rain” hopping over a soul sample for a minute discussing the importance of rain itself. “Funky Microphone” blends a piano with kicks & snares getting hardcore lyrically just before the jazzy “Cosmic Scenes” assuring that the sweet sound of birds can be heard though sirens.

“Spooky Times” maintains the jazz influence crossing it over with boom bap to talk about how nice it is to let the beauty rise sometimes while “The Glow” keeps it raw so everyone listening is able to feel the sunshine. “Paradoxical” has a darker atmosphere to the beat coming to heal you while the flute-heavy “Making Waves” talks being on madness these days. “Grapevine” maintains the instrumental vibes from previously feeling happy & sad simultaneously while the title track jazzily ends the album showing unconditional love to his family.

A series of life-changing events compelled Fliptrix to hole up in the studio to capture the true essence of his recent experiences in real time, resulting in his most alive offering to date with the handbrake fully off as well as emotions & energies dialed up to 11. Each unpacking a tumultuous year which included the birth of his daughter & unexpected passing of his father who played in a 70s rock band that Dragonfly is named after, all this while navigating the ever-shifting music scene he has championed for so long.

Score: 8/10

Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

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BVA’s 3rd Album “The Dam Builder” Prod. by Leaf Dog Improves from It’s Predecessors (Album Review)

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This is the 3rd full-length LP from Glastonbury, Somerset, United Kingdom emcee BVA. Coming up as a member of The Four Owls, he’s also given us a couple albums & EPs of his own over the course of this past decade with the 2021 sophomore effort Lex Neville & his first EP BVA MC standing out the most of the few solo efforts under his belt. However after learning that Leaf Dog was fully producing The Dam Builder after dropping When Sleeping Giants Wake a month ago, I went into it expecting to surpass everything BVA had done previously.

After the intro, the first song “Charge It to the Game” officially begins the album with a soulful boom bap instrumental talking about being heartless in the face yet the calmest in his lane whereas “New Days” featuring Verb T takes the jazzier route explaining that it ain’t ever same as older days. “Out Here” featuring Benny the Butcher & Leaf Dog returns to the boom bap so they can talk about being raised outside leading into Leaf sticking around on the mic for “8 Bit Tales” dustily telling freaky tales like Too $hort.

“Desire” brings a whimsical boom bap vibe to the beat talking about there still a fire even when it’s cold ahead of Leaf Dog returning inside the booth once again for the orchestral “Take It Easy” likening the instrumental hitting like a wake & bake. “Nice n Crispy” works in more kicks, snares & orchestra elements to say shit like this is what makes them say these type of days be some of the best just before “1 in the Ashtray” talking about getting stoned during the day pretty much as soon as he wakes up.

Meanwhile on “Flying Daggers”, we have BVA over more classical flavored boom bap production refusing to allow anyone to burst his bubble while the solemnly “Dreamer” talking about how it don’t cost shit to be nice & people having their heads up in the clouds rather than in their vices. “Lost” has a soulful boom bap flare instrumentally explaining that every one of us is lost looking for a way out while “Over the Edge” takes a second checking what he knows in his head over more kicks & snares.

“Couple Clues” luxuriously observes the humor in these kids being told they were special & reality cutting them like sharp metal as they grew up while the organ-laced “Curse of the Liquor” insightfully breaking down the cons of alcoholism. “Still Rowing” soulfully talks about your respect owing while “Mightier Than the Sword” mixed a crooning sample with kicks & snares likening himself to a beast in his lair calling the feeling home sweet home.

Ramson Badbonez joins BVA on “Hiding in Plain Sight” continuing the sampling of soul music cautioning not to trust the government, the lawmakers or pharmaceuticals while the track “The Medecine” featuring Leaf Dog brings back the strings throwing kicks & snares on top of them explaining that it was never about anything else. And prior to the outro, the final song “Always Something” featuring Leaf Dog ends the LP brushing bad things off like nothing over organs.

His last couple albums have been a tad bit overloaded with the guests, but BVA really tones it down for The Dam Builder resulting in living up to my expectations outdoing B.V.A. (Be Very Aware) & Lex Neville in becoming my new favorite solo effort in his discography. Leaf Dog’s production fuses the raw drum patterns of the traditional boom bap sound with samples along with strings & organs so BVA provides some of his most focused performances.

Score: 8/10

Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

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Leaf Dog Continues His 2024 Run By Releasing His 8th Solo LP “When Sleeping Giants Wake” (Album Review)

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Brighton, England producer/emcee Leaf Dog of amongst the best UK hip hop groups in recent memory The Four Owls as well as the 3 Amigos & Brothers of the Stone continuing his crazy 2024 run by releasing his 8th full-length solo LP. Branching out on his own in 2011 with From a Scarecrow’s Perspective, the sophomore effort 6 years later Dyslexic Disciple quickly became his most well-regarded body of work yet & I enjoyed Live from the Balrog Chamber at the beginning of 2020 just as much. However in 2024 alone he’s released a total of 4 albums so far: Photosynthesis, Don’t Scare the Crows Now, Outstanding in My Field & more recently Anything is Possible from a couple weeks ago. Much like January though, Leaf’s giving us 2 albums in 1 month by quickly following it up with When Sleeping Giants Wake.

After the intro, the first song “Victory” begins in the form of a crooning sample mixed with kicks & snares explaining that this is everything that his crew dreamed about whereas “The Storm” featuring Busta Rhymes & BVA finds the trio coming together over some Phantom of the Opera/boom bap shit bringing it hardcore. “It’s Never Easy” talks about trying to find a quick fix on top of a soulful instrumental with kicks & snares leading into “Daily News” continuing the sampling of soul music coming from a more personal place lyrically.

“Long Road Traveling” has a bit of an orchestral boom bap flare to the beat flexing that it ain’t no comparison when it comes to shit like this, but then “Check Mate” continues to clash strings with kicks & snares talking about calculating his next move similarly to chess. “Days of the Future Past” has a bluesier boom bap instrumental likening it to another scary movie tryna make you laugh that is until BVA returns alongside the late Sean Price for “Fade to Black” mixing that traditional hardcore shit with elements of classical.

Starting the 2nd half of the album, “War Report” soulfully paints the image of a horror story while “Conquer Your Fear” is a piano/boom bap crossover profoundly talking about his instincts. “The Ruler’s Back” has a bit of a triumphant atmosphere to it boasting that he can still make a classic even when he’s damn trending while “But For Now” takes the jazzier route a bit touching on some real life shit.

“Over Time” has a more colorful beat talking about having to pay his dues to get where he is at this point in his career while “Card to My Chest” incorporates a boom bap instrumental with a plucky guitar sample reflecting on when they was always waiting for him to slip. The final song “Soil Getting Sold” prior to the outro concludes When Sleeping Giants Wake with 1 last jazz rap cut telling y’all exactly where one can find him.

I can only imagine that Leaf will be dropping more albums throughout 2024 much like Flee Lord’s prolific 2020 run & although that’s certainly looking to be the case, When Sleeping Giants Wake could possibly be my favorite of the 5 LPs that we’ve gotten from him this year so far. His production is heavily boom bap centered although he fuses additional elements of soul & jazz music respectively, you get to see both sides of him as an artist & as a person joined by brief guest list.

Score: 8/10

Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

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Bronze Nazareth & Leaf Dog – “Bundle Raps” (Album Review)

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Bronze Nazareth is a 41 year old MC/producer from Detroit, Michigan who started out as a member of the group Wisemen alongside his late brother Kevlaar 7 & later became a member of the Wu-Elements, the in-house production team for the almighty Wu-Tang Clan. He also has 2 solo albums under belt with The Great Migration & School for the Blindman but after a little over 7 years, Bronze is ready to hop back on the mic in a full-length capacity & has enlisted Leaf Dog of The Four Owls to produce it from front to back.

After the “Think Carefully” intro, the first song “Theatre Speak” talks about striving for perfection over some foreboding string sections whereas the next track “It’s On” with Leaf Dog finds the 2 getting cocky over a bare sample of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s “If This World Were Mine”. The song “Madman” with Recognize Ali sees the 2 talking about trying to make it out the ghetto over a high-pitched vocal sample & ominous horns then after the “Wise Wakening” interlude, “The War on Us” gets conscious over a twangy beat.

The song “Lisbon Dinners” gets on the mafioso side of things over a funky instrumental with some wind-blowing samples & after the “Burnt Leaf” interlude, the track “Get It Myself” talks about hustling on his own over a boom bap beat with some triumphant horns. The song “Lyrical Wars” with BVA & Leaf Dog finds the trio challenging their opposition over an instrumental kin to Wu-Tang Forever while “The Deranged” is a full-blown Wisemen reunion talking about how it only takes 1 shot to leave your clothes stained in blood over a weepy beat.

The track “Grime Lords” with June Megalodon sees the 2 declaring themselves as such to declare themselves as such over a fuzzy instrumental with some vinyl cracking while the song “J My Man!” talks about being ruthless over some thunderous drums. Then before finishing off with the “No Turning Back” outro, the final song “The Immaculate” boasts his prowess about over a boom bap beat with some trumpets.

I was wondering when or if Bronze would drop another solo album, but I’m glad he did because this is a dope body of work. His lyricism is still as good as his production-skills & then Leaf Dog on the other hand continues to remind listeners that he’s one of the best producers the UK has to offer.

Score: 7/10

The post Bronze Nazareth & Leaf Dog – “Bundle Raps” (Album Review) first appeared on UndergroundHipHopBlog.
Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

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