What a little gem I uncovered thanks to the heads up from E himself! (This is the beauty of having a platform like Raw Side Hip Hop, where REAL hip hop is king and there is no agenda, just pure, authentic, quality hip hop.) Bear Handz 4 is a really solid, sonic experience. ethemadassassin can truly rip a mic and his wordplay and engaging content and flow had me bumping this back to back for a whole afternoon. (I now need to go back and check some previous catalogue!)
If ethemasassassin is new to you, let’s give you a quick run through…. He’s dropped like 10 albums, 2 EP’s and other stuff. He’s a talented emcee from Cali and has a really smooth flow. This album really was a nice, fresh, different take on hip hop in 2020 and I was vibing with it. The album is produced by Swedish beatmaker Twelvebit who lays down a fantastic collection of tracks which have their own point of difference but make the overall album quite cohesive. There are some east-coast sounding bangers like ‘Don’t Mix Ya Dishes‘, ‘Shots of Gin‘ and ‘Gunsmoke‘ but we also get some tech-inspired tracks like ‘Discipline’ or the lo-fi, cruisey ‘10‘.
From a lyrical point of view, E has some kind of pen game. A collection of dark, street tales mixed with some touching and introspective tracks makes this album a quality and engaging listen. His ability to draw you in and spit fire is something of quality, and I had the head nodding and stank face a number of times not only because of the bars but of the quotables. He paints interesting visuals with the quality of his rhymes.
Bangers: Shots of Gin, Gunsmoke, Stay Paid, Don’t Mix Ya Dishes.
Score: 8 / 10. Really nice joint with high quality production supporting the top tier street tale telling style of ethemadassassin. Well worth the listen and give it a few spins to ensure you catch it all.
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