Tag Archives: Mike Shabb

Tha God Fahim Releases 3rd & Final EP of the Month “Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays” Produced by Mike Shabb (EP Review)

April 28, 2023 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

This is the 45th EP from Atlanta emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Coming up as an affiliate of Griselda Records as well as being 1/3 of the Dump Gawds alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, we also can’t ignore the massive discography that he’s managed to build for himself, some of the standouts include Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. But dude has been on a CRAZY ass EP run in 2023 with the standouts being the Camoflauge Monk-produced Dark Shogunn Assassin, the Nature Sounds-backed Iron Bull & the Nicholas Craven-produced Dump Gawd: Shot Clock King 4 & the Oh No-produced Berserko. Now I didn’t get the chance to cover Dump Gawd Reloaded or the Sadhugold-produced Dump Gawd: Tha Knocking of Loose earlier this month, but to hear Mike Shabb fully producing Dump Gawd: Rhyme Pays was more than enough to peak my interest considering he just dropped his best EP Shadow Moses earlier a couple weeks ago.

The title track kicks the whole thing off with bare crooning soul loop with Fahim describing the way every single one of us play the game in our own different ways whereas “Cash Over Convo” takes the boom bap route with a gospel sample working in some kicks & snares to talk about every song he makes being mind-blowing as an innovator. “Fo My Peoples” blends some jazzy horns & strings making it clear exactly who he does this shit for leading into “Mr. Truth” returning to drumless territory talking about having to see it through because he’s a visualizer.

“The Dragon n The Treasure” dives back into the boom bap sound to begin the 2nd half of the EP asking to be protected by his enemies & his friends while “The League” hooks up a humming loop, horns, snares & kicks to talk about never interfering when it’s his turn ever on any circumstances. “The Remembrance” is mostly drumless even though there are few drum that pop up in the mix occasionally as he magnifies his riches & “Crème Dela Crème” closes out the EP glamorously talking about being the best of them all at the end of the day.

Of the 3 EPs that Fahim’s given us this month, Rhyme Pays is my favorite & Tha Knocking of Loose is right behind it. If you can tell by the title paying homage to the full length debut from West Coast gangsta rap pioneer Ice-T, tha 50 tape legend himself steps his pen-game in comparison to the 2 predecessors with Mike Shabb’s production style teetering between drumless along with chipmunk soul & boom bap. Very exciting to see what May brings us from the Dump Gawd.

Score: 9/10

Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

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Mike Shabb’s 4th EP “Shadow Moses” Produced by Nicholas Craven is His Finest Solo Effort Thus Far (EP Review)

April 14, 2023 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

This is the 4th EP from Montreal emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb. Coming up in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 3 EPs & a couple of mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery & producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X this past fall. So to continue capitalizing off that, Mike’s bringing in his mentor & one of the most prolific beatsmiths that the underground has seen in recent memory Nicholas Craven to fully produce Shadow Moses from top to bottom.

“Smokin’ Samson” is an atmospherically drumless opener with Shabbo letting y’all know that he only smokes only the finest kush in the world whereas “All Greatness” takes a more soulful route to flex his lyrical prowess. “Play for Keeps” goes into a groovier direction advising to look around & tell him what you see while the song “Save the Joker” incorporates some crooning background vocals making it clear that not even God can save you. The penultimate track “Baskiat” has more delicate sound to it talking about how the repercussions will be felt & learning from his mistakes just before “Respectfully” comes through with a jazzy closer boasting that no one can do it the way he does it.

From the moment Craven himself introduced me to this guy by networking us through social media, I knew it was only a matter of time before his profile in the underground would grow & I highly recommend that the people who were first exposed to Mike through “Switches on Everything” give Shadow Moses a listen because it’s my favorite solo effort of his to date. He really is at his best as an MC which should satisfy the new fans he’s already made & those he’ll continue bring in with his mentor also helping make it his most well-produced effort as well.

Score: 9/10

Source: UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

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Mike Shabb Teases New Project Fully Produced by Nicholas Craven with One of His Best Songs to Date “Save the Joker”

February 17, 2023 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

Coming fresh off engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery producing “Switches on Everything” off the 10th & final installment of the Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series last fall, Montréal up-&-coming emcee/prouder Mike Shabb enlists Nicholas Craven for his first single of the year “Save the Joker”, which happens to be amongst my favorite tracks that he’s given us thus far to the point where I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get a whole project with Mike rapping over Craven beats later this year. If that’s the case, then we’re truly in for a groundbreaking entry in Shabbo’s discography.