APOLLO BROWN & STALLEY – BLACKLIGHT

This is definitely the culmination of Stalley’s career on this album. He teamed up with super producer Apollo Brown from Detroit and created a very dope album. On the mic, Stalley is smooth and refined as ever. He really has some decent flows on here and some good content. On the boards, Apollo Brown is magical as usual creating those soulful and hard boom bap records like always. The highlight is “Love Me, Love Me Not” featuring Skyzoo. Hip hop heads should definitely recognize the sample as Apollo Brown recreates an awesome song. Both Stalley and Skyzoo kill it on the mic as well. This is a solid album and definitely Stalley’s best work thus far. Very well done Stalley!

OVERALL RATING: 4 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

#stalley #mmg #bluecollargang #bcg #ohio #apollobrown #mellowmusicgroup #detroit #blacklight

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APOLLO BROWN & CHE NOIR – AS GOD INTENDED

Producer extraordinaire Apollo Brown and Buffalo MC Che Noir link up to form a an almost heavenly bond and create a near masterpiece with their new album. This album is about as close to perfection as you get. Che Noir crafts some expertly thought out rhymes song after song. I especially appreciated the different song themes she came up with and also how closely the rhymes are to each theme. Her flow is amazing also as she is able to ride the beat with her vocals. There isn’t much more you could say about the greatness of Apollo Brown. His gritty tone for beats and the way he creates masterpieces every time is almost unmatched out there amongst producers today. He did it again and gave us more fantastic beats. One of the best highlights on this project is “12 Hours” as it shows what a misunderstanding can lead to. Other highlights on here include “Anti-Social,” “Blood Is Thicker,” and “94.” This album is chock full of depth and stories over expertly-crafted beats. This is definitely an album that you will want on repeat. Fantastic job by both Che Noir and Apollo Brown.

 

OVERALL RATING: 4.5 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

 

#apollobrown #mellowmusicgroup #detroit #chenoir #che_noir #trustgang #buffalo #asgodintended #agi

 

APOLLO BROWN – SINCERELY, DETROIT

Apollo Brown really outdoes himself on the production on this new record Sincerely, Detroit. He’s always been dope, but it’s times like this that he really shines on the boards. The beats on here are fantastic and it’s hard to think of anyone that is beating him when he is this consistently good. You get the hardest drums out matched with soulful musical and vocal samples to create some of the best boom bap beats out there. This provides the backdrop to get a plethora of Detroit artists on here to showcase their rhymes. It’s a little bit harder to judge the lyrical side of things when you have this many diverse MCs all on one project, but overall, they all did a pretty good job. You get lyrical wizards like Ty Farris, Royce Da 5’9″, Elzhi, and Kid Vishis that drop fire verses all throughout. Then there are lesser known MCs on here. Some shine while others don’t as much. I wouldn’t really say anything was whack, but you can tell the ones that shine brighter than others. Two highlights to check would be “Stopwatch” and “All Day.” This is a huge project, but I think everyone involved did a great job showcasing the motor city. Y’all better listen to the D because they got something to say and got a sound all their own.

 

OVERALL RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

 

#apollobrown #mellowmusicgroup #detroit #sincerelydetroit

 

APOLLO BROWN & JOELL ORTIZ – MONA LISA

The former Slaughterhouse wordsmith Joell Ortiz teams up with Detroit super producer Apollo Brown and brings us a very introspective project called Mona Lisa. Now the first thing that really stands out about this project is how somber and sad it seems. You definitely get that vibe the whole way through the album. Joell does a fantastic job lyrically. There really aren’t too many MCs out there that are messing with Joell on the mic. But, you can hear the sadness and the intense thinking that is going on when he spits his bars. Apollo Brown is usually real rough and gritty with his old time samples and hard beats, but you can hear how somber his beats are to match Joell Ortiz on this one as well. On “Reflection” he tells us about where he is right now as an artist, how it is hard to navigate the music industry right now, and thoughts about where he actually stands. “That Place” is a fantastic and REAL track about how he hates going to the hospital because it is usually associated with death (sometimes life, but a lot of death and problems also). I think anyone out there can relate to this track which is what makes Joell so good. The highlight of the project is the collaboration with Royce Da 5’9″ on “Timberlan’d Up.” The beat is fantastic and both MCs do their thing on the mic. This is a dope project, but it will definitely make you sit back and think a bit.

OVERALL RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

#apollobrown #mellowmusicgroup #detroit #joellortiz #shadyrecords #yaowa #slaughterhouse #monalisa

APOLLO BROWN & LOCKSMITH – NO QUESTION

This was a fantastic EP from 2 underrated talents in the rap game. Locksmith is an incredible lyricist that is criminally slept on. He can construct some supreme bars and chances are you probably haven’t heard of him. He gives an introspective look at his life and his thought process on this short offering. Apollo Brown’s name should speak for itself if you are familiar with his work. He brings vintage and soulful boom bap beats with fantastic samples to back up any quality MC out there. It only made sense for these 2 to make a project together. The only real beef I have with this project is that it wasn’t long enough. I wanted to hear more from them. A full length album would have been great. Nonetheless, they did a fantastic job. The highlight is probably the song “Litmus” where Locksmith shows you why he is so great at crafting rhymes. Although this project was released among the likes of Jay-Z and Nas with their albums, don’t let this one slip through the cracks and get lost in the shuffle. You need to hear this.

OVERALL RATING: 4 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

#locksmith #dalocksmith #apollobrown #noquestion #mellowmusicgroup

APOLLO BROWN & PLANET ASIA – ANCHOVIES

Another great release from the master producer Apollo Brown. On this go round, he employs the lyrical great Planet Asia on here. Planet Asia is a great lyricist and it definitely shows on this project. Apollo Brown does what he does best and crafted some great sampled tracks for Asia to rhyme over. It’s basically mostly bars and no hooks on this release but it’s cool, it works. As far as constructing an album, it almost feels unfinished. That is not to say that it is not dope because it is. It just doesn’t feel finished in the traditional sense – songs with verses and hooks and concepts. As far as beats go, these aren’t the best ones you will ever hear from Apollo Brown but they work. All in all, this was a pretty good effort.

OVERALL RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

#apollobrown #planetasia #asiaticprince #planetasiamedallions #anchovies #mellowmusicgroup

APOLLO BROWN & SKYZOO – THE EASY TRUTH

This album was pretty good. Apollo Brown has always come through on the beats and this offering is no different. He offers that soulful and slamming boom bap sound that never seems to disappoint. I can’t really be mad at any of the beats on this album. Skyzoo gives a decent performance as far as the rhymes. Is he a classic, top-tier rapper? No. But does he get the job done? Yes, definitely. I almost would have liked to see a better MC on these beats but I think that Skyzoo can at least perform for par on here. The hot tracks to check for would include: “Jordan’s & A Gold Chain” and “Basquiat On The Draw.” If nothing else, this release is very consistent from beginning to end. You will probably not be impressed out of your mind but you definitely won’t be disappointed. Classic NY sound for the culture here!

OVERALL RATING: 4 out of 5 Cheesesteaks

#apollobrown #skyzoo #theeasytruth #easytruth #mellowmusicgroup