Friday, September 28, 2012

Covering Grounds 2


S.B. & Krypto - Covering Grounds 2

The first Covering Grounds cd was one of the most underrated westcoast albums in a few years. It had some good beats but was carried by S.B. and Krypto's rapping, this time around the beats are even better and the two bay area rappers once again bring they A game.

The One's featuring newcomer Axion Jaxion is a great way to start the album off as Kryp and SB tear the mic apart over a fantastic beat. Krypto rides the beat perfectly on his verse and on the hook and the same goes for SB and Axion. Keep an eye and ear out for this dude Axion Jaxion, he has a ton of talent and has not been on a bad track yet.

Truth Is has one of 2012's most impressive beats on it, which comes courtesy of Freddy Machete. The eiry voice samples and the drums are a perfect backdrop for Krypto, SB and Axion Jaxion on this one. If you ain't heard many of Freddy Machete beats yet, do yourself a favor and get up on game, dude is a beast, this beat sings to me and has been on repeat this I got this album, not much else to say other then STRAIGHT SLAP, awesome track. Krypto stole the show on this track fosho.

Heavy Metal is on some hard ass shit that will have you wanting to knock a mothafuck out with Axion Jaxion doing a great hook that is on some down south/David Banner or Lil John type and fits the vibe of the beat perfectly. Lots of energy from every rapper on this track here as they spit raps over a fantastic high energy beat. The youngster Axion Jaxion stole the show on this track, from the hook to his verse, nothing but heat!

Dola is a more laid back chill track, especially compared to the previous tracks on the album and features the mainstream worthy Los Rakas and has a dope relaxed feel to it. Production is on point again with this beat as westcoast don Mitchy Slick joins the party and drops a ridicolous verse and remids me why he is one of my favorite rappers on the west.

Once again this is another track that has a dope hook that is not annoying and that doesnt take away from the song, Los Rakas killed it. Is it just me or is it just a matter of time before Los Rakas blow the fuck up? They have mainstream appeal without doing some corny bullshit, let this be a lesson to mothafuckas, you aint gotta dumb down your shit to appeal to a wider fanbase!

They Can't see Us is another high energy track that has a beat with a more eastcoast feel to it. SB starts things off with his street poetry an kills it
with dope lines and his usual flawless flow. Yet again another dope ass hook, I cant remember the last time an album had so many hooks that where enjoyable instead of being a pain in the ass or extremely annoying, it might not soudn like much to some, but generic and piss poor hooks can ruin some tracks, not the case on this shit. Axion Jaxion and SB steal the show on this track over yet another dope ass beat.

Ampachino joins the crew on Life Of Block Baby, which is a mobb/gangster track that is one of my favorites on the whole album. Alot of rappers have some nice features but they don't give them a good beat to rock or the mixing sucks,etc.. but with this track they picked a PERFECT beat for Ampachino to jump on, as he sounds right at home, as if it was one of his solo albums. SB and Amp together? Super dope track and makes me wish for a SB/Amp colab album. It's not my favorite beat on the album but as I said above it fits Ampahinos style perfectly.

Greenlight is another one of my favorite songs and beats on the whole album. It's one of those rare tracks that is dope as fuck that you could also play at a party for the ladies on the dancefloor, that won't
send the men wanting to close there ears. The beat is super slapping, the hook is ill and all the rappers kill it. Just goes to show you don't have to dumb ya shit down like crazy to make an accesible track. The young and talented Danked Out joins the crew for this track and does not dissapoint, killin it as usual. This track has me putting it on repeat non-stop, reminds me somewhat of WE MUSSSH which was a similar track that was on the first Covering Grounds, addicting track!

Peice Of Cake is another mobb track that slaps and Sacred Soldiers is a group track that is very enjoyable aswell (both with dope beats again).

The only track that feels out of place to me is Silly Games, its far from a bad track, just not as enjoyable to me as the other tracks on the album.

Thanksgiving is a dope track that has a oriental feel to it and Krypto steals the show on this track over a crazy beat. The production on this track made me want to jump on the MPC with a few oriental samples loaded up, dope shit.

Excuse My French is a perfect way to finish the album, as the beat is intoxicating and SB and Krypto kill the mic like you know they are capable of. Another track that does everything very well, which is a recurring theme on this album.

Overall its a very well made album with extremely high quality mixing, production, hooks and rapping. No realy bad tracks on the whole album, some better than others but overall this is one of the years most consistent albums from a rapping and production aspect. If you enjoyed the first Covering Grounds album you will LOVE this one, its got better production and of course dope rapping from Krypto and SB.

Sacred has dropped some of the best albums of 2012 with Danked Out's underrated latest album and now this Covering Grounds 2 with S.B. and Krypto. This is independent hiphop at its best right here, good beats and good rapping, along with well done mixing and mastering, take notes up and coming labels.


Thursday, June 28, 2012




Danked Out - Reloaded

One of the underrated up and coming mc's from the wild west is Danked Out. The youngster has some great lyrics, a dope flow and has been rocking over dope beats for a minute now. Whether its with Indo or Sacred Ent, Danked Out is gonna be someone to lookout for in the future.

Sacred has been putting in alot of work lately and it looks to be paying off with this release from young Danked Out. Its got a good overall feel to the album and should have a little something for everyone to bump.

The album starts off with the title track, Reloaded. Danked introduces himself to those who ain't heard him yet and introduces himself with fans who been checking him since his last album. Dank spits dope lyrics over a nice beat and is a good start off to the album. Not my favorite song on the album but a very solid way to get things started.

"Aye" is the 2nd track off reloaded and its a fucking heater. For years I been wondering how does a rapper stay in his lane with that gangsta shit, but still make some club or popular tracks at the same time. This AYE track here is a perfect example of a track that you could play at a club but at the same time its not watered down or annoying, its good fuckign music that you can just happen to bump for the ladies to. The beat is one of my favorites on the album and Danked Out sounds extremely confident when rocking a instrumental like this. Can we get more radio/club tracks that are this quality and not watered down crap?

The World Is Mine is another one of my personal favorites on Reloaded as Danked Out is joined by westcoast mobb figga The Jacka. The beat is fantastic and another one of my fav beats on the project. Danked Out's flow on this song is straight money and the hook from The Jacka is dope as fuck (Jacka always been dope at doing good choruses). Also this is one of the better verses ive heard from The Jacka since Tear Gas and GoBots2 with Lee Majors dropped. Hope to see a high quality video of this track right here, its classic westcoast music with a dope beat and Jacka and Danked Out spittin that bay area game that you love.

24 is on that gangsta shit with bay area hard hitters Phithy Rich and Stevie Joe. Its pretty much what you would expect from a Livewire and Sacred track, the beat grew on me alot for this song, the first few times I was not super impressed but the more I listened to it the more I enjoyed the production on here.

Sacred Army is a hard fucking track and one of my favorites as Danked Out spits maybe his hardest verses on the whole album for this song. With lines like "You just bitter my nigga, slicker then slick rick the ruler" and "Sayin you the man, now how boy I been that, put it in your brain you should never think im bluffin and fuck killin the game im a leave that shit suffering".

Yesssiree is a slapper produced by Traxxamillion and features Krypto. The ingredients is there for a dope track and it definatly is slappin, as the beat is really nice and Danked Out drops a good verse, but to me Krypto did not fit well on this beat at all. Either would have liked a Danked Out solo on this or different feature. Nothing against Krypto because I love some of his music, but he felt out of place on this beat/track.

Right back has some hard ass strings on it and the drums slappin like crazy. This song reminds me of that old school westcoast music that we use to get back in the day. The production on this track sounds like its fresh out of the 90s and is one of my favorites of the year. For some reason the beat during the hook reminds me of some old school Above The Law with the synth or what ever it is that comes in. Had this track on repeat many times, yes Danked Out kills the track with an ill flow as he rides the beat perfectly but its the production that really shines the most on this track.

Kush everywhere is a track for the weed smokers and does not disappoint at all. The hook is dope, the beat good and Danked Out sounds at home rapping about that sticky. If you are like me you could not listen to the whole song without sparking up some kush. Do yourself a favor and pack the bong, roll one up or grab the vaporizer before bumping this track. In no time you will be screaming "kush everywhere!"

Take It back is CRAZY, the production is my favorite on this album and Young Gully who is crazy underrated steals the show with lines that have put him near the top of my list of most underrated up and coming rappers from the westcoast. He paints a picture that many rappers cannot do, can we get a Young Gully and Danked Out album? This track stays on repeat and is great all the way around, not one negative aspect here, straight slap!

Come and Get it is back on the mobb shit and another stellar beat that is hard as a mothafucka (actually made me want to jump on the mpc or keyboard after hearing it). This beat right here brings out the best in Danked Out as he spits hard as a mothafucka alongside bay area veteran Ap9 who not only lays a dope verse but also rocks a dope chorus to.

One Of Them Nights is probably my least favorite song on the album. Its not horrible by any means but to me Danked Out is not as effective on this kind of track as he is ripping them mobb tracks or the weed songs. I like the beat alot and like I said before its nothing really bad about this track, it just kind of felt out of place next to the other tracks on the album.

Down For You is so dope, Suryil kills the hook, the production is straight and Danked out kicks some dope ass lyrics that Im sure most people can relate to. Another song here that is a nice mix of different styles, the females and the males will both enjoy this song I think. Nice chill ass beat to, really feeling this one, has a jazzy feel to it that I like alot.

Self Made has Bay Area legend Yukmouth dropping a dope ass verse for Danked and Sacred, over yet another dope beat. Danked kills it and so does Yukmouth who drops one of my favorite verses of his in a minute. Don't know if Yuk just enjoyed the beat or they had some good kush in the studio for this or what, but Yuk sounded right at home on this track. Another slappin track that is great all around.

Mainey is CRAZY, first off Husalah from the mobb figgas jumps in and kills the mic over a beat you would swear was from his classic Dope, Guns and Religion album. As Hus says "Bitch that's mobb shit!" indeed this is that mobb shit that we been missing lately. Now, as great as Husalah was on this song, he doesn't drop the best verse on the song, that would have to go to the criminally underrated S.B. AKA Baby Cougnut. When I see names like Husalah and S.B. who are vets in this bay area thang, I expect a dope fucking song, but alot of the time dope features together are either wrecked by a wack beat or something else. Not the case on this song, who ever thought of adding Husalah and SB on this song deserves some credit, they fit this beat PERFECTLY! Mobb shit you bitch.

Yo Bitch is another good track as Freddy Machette continues to impress me with his production. Danked Out spits some game about your bitch and also a well done hook, which could have been annoying if done wrongly. Not my favorite song on the album, but far from a bad track.

Ridin Dirty finishes the album off and its a fantastic way to finish things off. The hook is great as Raka Dun drops a dope fucking hook and Freddy Machete provides alot sick ass beat that is hard as fuck. Unlike the Yesssire track, Krypto sounds right at home on this beat and kills shit, same goes for Livewire member J-Stalin and Danked out, great rapping on this song fits the great beat and hook perfectly.

Overall this is a very good rap album, its got mostly great beats, nice features without going overboard and Danked Out impresses on nearly every single track. I really enjoyed Danked Out's first album and this one is even better in my opinion. Quality is something that Sacred Ent is pushing and you can tell that is has paid off. They are taking this rap shit seriously and have dropped one of this years top 3 albums from any coast in my opinion. For other rap labels trying to come up in this game, check out the way Sacred Ent is going it right here. Good production, High quality mixing/editing and no filler, take notes y'all.

Still early in the year but for me personally this is up there with my other favorites so far from 2012 (Peplove's latest, E-40's latest, Locksmiths latest and that new Casual/Dj Fresh).

Score: 9/10