Los Angeles, California host/producer AFRO recorded the song with Stu Bangas for his latest record. After winning the Rap Flow Defining Competition, he became a protégé of RA the Rugged Man, and with the support of Duck Down Music Inc., his fifth EP AFRO produced by Marco Polo Polo introduces himself as a promising rising star in the underground music scene. “The Drawing Board” as well as “The Bad & the Ugly: The Goods Always Die First” and “Crimson Fury” all prove his return with a vengeance in recent memory, prefacing his upcoming 14th EP No More Patience with The Bad & the Ugly II.
The “Lost Souls” sequel to “Bad & the Ugly” sets out to ensure that despite suffering from glaucoma, he can still see better things, while “Pack It In” mixes samples with kicks and snares that recall House of Pain’s single “Jump Around” as fighting him is a sin. Bring Ya Best Army 2 starring One Be Lo dustily picks up where its predecessor left off last Halloween, jumping into Mastermind starring Wordsworth to talk about how life is not a game to them.
“Use Your Brain” ends the first half by advising people to think before stepping up to the microphone, whereupon “The Conductor” jumps over the rhythm instruments played by the organ and talks about conducting poetry. MotionPlus’ “Man of God” finds the pair living a happy life and intolerant of disrespect, while “My Saloon” talks about pouring lyrical beer and not allowing any punk assholes into his bar.
We had “The Quick & The Dead” with some piano and drum machines, aimed at rappers who think they’re slick by breaking rhymes quickly when they’re not, while 4-IZE’s “No Regrets” talks about living life without any regrets. The Young Bangas-produced “D’Amalfi” is the only song Stu has produced that doesn’t discuss this chore fondly, but never imagine that he’s still dreaming.
“Pandemic Posse” featuring Blaq Poet, EKYM1536, Emsee Prospekt, Horror City, MotionPlus and Pulse Reaction spent the next 6 minutes properly introducing themselves to the collective, while “Glistening” asked everyone in the party if they were still listening to him rock out on stage. “Stairway to Heaven 2” ends on some rap-rock tone, explaining that God told him to use his thoughts as weapons.
The Bad and the Ugly II may be a little more feature-heavy than the original that launched last Halloween, but I’d definitely put it above Crimson Fury, just a little bit ahead, because I loved the conceptual homebrew expansion game from 5 months ago. The production, helmed almost entirely by Stu Bangas, certainly recaptures the raw energy of The Bad and the Ugly to perfection, with AFR-O’s pen taking the horror to the next level.
Score: 8/10
