Wolf proudly boasts that he’s got his own sound like an instrument and he’s mostly right, even if there are antecedents to his unique yelp, Suga Free, CeeLo Green first and foremost. Additionally, the production ,mostly courtesy of crew highlight Raphy with additional contributions by Black Milk and Crisfantom, is less tethered to Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang, complimenting the bars with a mix of cinematic jazz a freewheeling drum patterns that’s defiantly D.ĭope Game Stupid by Bruiser Wolf Dope Game Stupid by Bruiser Wolfįinally, Bruiser Wolf’s Dope Game Stupid is proving to be a critical release for the crew and label.
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But whereas an emcee like Benny The Butcher keeps an icegrill 24/7, Fat Ray isn’t afraid to crack a joke or let a bit of light shine through the darkness. Splitting the difference between punchlines and pathos, the record is a ground level survey of the pitfalls of dope dealing, and of the three releases, it feels the most connected to the hard-nosed street rap coming out of Upstate New York.
Ray dropped a slate of releases in the mid to late 00s, including a particularly banging tape with Black Milk, before falling off rap’s radar for a decade, but Santa Barbara feels more like a proper debut than a comeback. Santa Barbara by Fat Ray (not to be confused with Babyface) is cut from a similar cloth, but it’s more haunted and tinged with remorse. Santa Barbara by Fat Ray Santa Barbara by Fat Ray Less bombastic in its mythmaking than a Griselda or Roc Marci tape but more grounded than the slippery post-trap dominating Michigan’s youth scene, it’s the kind of breezy, shit talking rap album that was Detroit’s bread and butter in Dilla era, and a style that’s still welcome today.
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It’s also defiantly Midwestern: J.U.S’ voice is a deep, laidback drawl that cuts through the production like a hot knife through butter, the kind of cheat code that separates 20 minutes of punchlines and boasts from more average underground releases.
The shortest of the label’s recent releases and perhaps the most straightforward, it’s nevertheless a fascinating mix of influences, combining boasts about selling Bitcoin to buy drugs with Dragonball Z references in a mix of pop culture cool and street ready ruggedness. GOD GOKU JAY-Z by J.U.S GOD GOKU JAY-Z by J.U.Sįirst up was J.U.S’ God Goku Jay-Z, a Lil Big Pac mash up of a title that probably could have included Jordan had the Pistons not consistently proven a thorn in Mike’s side in the 80s. Tethered neither to purist hip-hop nor the youth-led wave of Michigan rap dominating Youtube, the label’s three releases each contribute to a unique sound, drawing equally from contemporary underground rap and Detroit’s musical history. Since January however, Bruiser Brigade has undergone an undercover renaissance as a Bandcamp label, dropping three unique, consistently entertaining projects by Detroit emcees J.U.S, Fat Ray and Bruiser Wolf. Odd Future proved stronger apart than together, A$AP Mob faltered without Yams’ steady hand, we never got a Black Hippy album and Bruiser Brigade… well what is Bruiser Brigade? Initially hyped as Danny Brown’s homies, their album never quite dropped (he eventually leaked it on Twitch), and in the past few years, it’s served as equal part rallying cry for his streaming sessions and umbrella for newer, closely linked associates like ZelooperZ. While they produced a prodigious wave of solo talent, the wave of early 10s blog rap crews didn’t pan out as groups.
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