Welcome to The Rotation! Every week we drop a few albums that our writers have been bumping the most so that we can share our thoughts on stuff we might not get to review otherwise – Whether it be fresh drops, throwbacks, or underground gems.
Joey Trap – The Plugs House
If you aren’t familiar with Joey Trap, then you should turn back now. A rapper that’s creatively bankrupt, he has constantly managed to adopted every flow under the sun. The tape that brought him his initial attention was Trapped in TV, which shamelessly had the same format as Ski Mask the Slump God’s early music; fast chopper-like flows & cartoon samples. Since then he’s taken up Griselda, Travis Scott, Quavo, DMX, anything that ever got hot.
The Plugs House is just another one in that affair, this time biting from the entire plugg scene. It would be interesting if he was able to do a spin on these flows, maybe adding some kind of unique personality, quirky lyrics, concepts, but no. His music is completely devoid of anything of note.
Cettiworld – MY BEAUTIFUL KURSE
A full instrumental tape from producer Cettiworld, MY BEAUTIFUL KURSE gets to let their talents shine. Deeply layered synth work along with snappy drums make for a constantly engaging listen. There are no features on the tape, but its made up for with how much is going on in each instrumental.
Sonic Sum – The Sanity Annex
Before Rob Sonic embarked on a solo career & landed full collaborative projects with Aesop Rock, he had a group with DJ Preservation, Erik M.O., and Fredones. While Rob Sonic’s music has always been quite abstract, here its incredibly poignant. It could possibly due to the nearly drumless production, something at the time that wasn’t as much of a gimmick as it is today, or Rob’s much more relaxed flow than his later material. Whatever it may be, its crucial listening because there is truly nothing else like it.