Las Vegas, Nevada emcee and producer Trade Voorhees is celebrating his birthday weekend by releasing his fourth full-length studio album via Bandcamp a day early. He’s been steadily working his way through Sin City’s underground scene since 2001, releasing a self-titled full-length trilogy as well as 5 EPs and 14 mixtapes. I even had the pleasure of meeting him at the 2021 Juggalos party on the last day of the festival and it was all love. However, in keeping with the spirit of the Saturday the 14th series, Trade wishes everyone a happy Saturday the 14th.
The self-produced title track is a fitting drum-less intro about how this bitch celebrates, while “16mm (Ghost Movie)” takes the ominous trap route, warning to make sure your house is fully lit because He crawls around the haunted house. “This Should Be Televised” shifts the conversation into piano boom bap territory, talking about his greatness is common sense, but then “Rainy Dayz” featuring LEROYCHOPS retains the kick and snare, suggesting another day is another opportunity to get busy. .
“Rainy Dayz 2” picks up where its predecessor left off, removing the drums and going in an atmospheric direction, and there’s no doubt he’s one of the best, with the 78-second “Dirty Forever” giving it a Cool lo-fi vibes before accepting yourself as an outlier. “Life Goes On” moves in the direction of a funky flourish that suggests the best days come from not giving a shit going into “Barracuda” and keeping things raw about his long-standing grind.
The melancholic bap of “I’m 37, I’m Not Old” takes a minute and a half to reflect on his upcoming 37th birthday this weekend, while “Killswitch” boasts about having a relationship with Johnny Millz Same safety mechanism. “1 Million Dollar Idea” throws out ideas as if advertising would get him paid, while the lo-fi “Rob Zombie Movie” talks about making everyone lose it. Proper Like I’s closer “Selfishness” ties it all together with them being tired of waking up with no interest in shit.
Having spent the past few years focusing on his trade through collaborations with Chapter 17/Psychopathic Records in-house producer and Lazy & Crazy Clothing founder Shaggytheairhead, Happy Saturday the 14th is easily one of the most important releases on his discography to date. His work, which oscillates between boom bap, drumless and lo-fi hip-hop, drew several guests to join him for a 25-minute or so review of the past 14 months of music.
Score: 8/10
