Brooklyn, NY emcee Eddie Kane celebrates Christmas Eve with his third mixtape. His Big Ghost Ltd.-produced debut A Tree Grows in Brooklyn attracted attention in the early 2000s, and the next few albums, Wonderful World of Kaino and Chosen, all received middling reviews, until the Finn-produced Quincy Street Blues marked, in my opinion, Eddie’s return. “Last Exit to Crooklyn” is a mature sequel to his first feature film. Based on the “Crown Me Kaine” and “Play for Keeps” EPs, Wavy da Ghawd is invited to star in the 12/24 sequel “Nightmare”.
After the “Winter’s Coming” intro, first song “Don’t Count Me Out” skips the jazzy bap instrumentals and gets us to the formal suggestion that he shouldn’t be suspected, and then “By the Window” dustily talks about heading to the other neighborhood if shit starts to get hot. Rare Form 2 is the sequel to a highlight of the original 12/24, who brags that his pen is truly unique, while “98” talks about how the game looks like the late 90s from his perspective.
“No Replacement” worked in some ways so he could clarify that he and his team weren’t happy with life, basically leading to “Ace Bailey” containing a soul sample talking about having to toughen up because everyone he grew up around mentioned the Utah Jazz small forward. “We on It,” featuring Wish Master, came together so they could talk about having good things in America, while “Smoke Break” feels less like an interlude and more like a brief trap freestyle.
Kicking off the final leg, “Cabin Fever/Young Veteran 2” is divided into two distinct parts, the second of which most notably picks up the theme of another 12/24 song, “Young Veteran,” while “Never Late” talks lovingly about always being on time. “24” spends the next 76 seconds asking who’s working harder here than him, while “Snowy Nights” ends the nightmare with memories of those cold winter nights he hustled just to get by.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary on December 24th, Eddie Kaine reunites with Wavy da Ghawd for a sequel that revisits the festive theme of its Nightmare predecessor, taking all the enjoyable qualities of its predecessor and pushing them forward. Featuring the only guest verse as 2 other features handle chorus duties, Wish Master is a departure from the previous chapter that ended 2020, but Wavy’s bap production feels like a huge improvement over Play for Keeps earlier this spring, and Kaine does a great job of recapturing the Christmas theme.
Rating: 9/10
