For example, “Hey, hello, how are you, I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to talk to you, or you.” Piercingly strained screams on top of crazy fast drums, and ripping overdriven guitar make their message perfectly clear. It’s snotty, it’s fast, it’s mean, and it’s telling you to get out of the way because Soakie is here to fuck shit up.
Tracks like “Or You Or You” and “Ditch the Rich” are perfect representations of how to describe this band to others. This group, with members originally from New Zealand and the US, formed in Melbourne in 2018, and we should all be grateful that they managed to cross paths from such far stretched roots. In true hardcore punk fashion, Soakie rips through seven songs in under fifteen minutes and never once gives you a second to catch your breath. Soakie is here with their debut self-titled EP and it is an unrelenting, powerful fist coming straight for your face. The pairing is perfect, with beats that slowly bang and grind soul samples into the pavement, Boldy James flexes his bars with street wisdom (“the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat”) and mafioso boasts (“my witness ain't show up to court, the judge, he had to weigh the trial, they say I got a morbid sense of humor, but that made me smile”).
The highlight of the four comes in The Price Of Tea In China, Boldy James’ latest full album collaboration with The Alchemist. From The Versace Tape (his Griselda debut), to Real Bad Boldy, and Manger on McNichols (his jazz rap odyssey with Sterling Toles), Boldy was constantly in the limelight, offering cold bars over focused beats, each record with it’s own vibe and mentality, shaped by hard unflinching lyricism. It’s an achievement to release four records in a year, and it’s another level altogether when each one is great. The Detroit rapper released no less than four great records.
If this year was slowing down productivity, no one told Boldy James. Tha God Fahim is able to drop knowledge, street music, and inspiration at a whim, a diverse threat that moves far beyond meaningless boasts and endless lyrical violence. There’s almost a hypnotic quality to the record, but it’s the ever consistent delivery of TGF that keeps lines like “eating rappers food, I treat this game like a picnic” or “ it’s not about the canvas more like how you paint it, stay out the way so many people tainted” feeling like he’s ascended above the competition, or if TGF is playing in another league altogether. On Lost Kingz, easily my favorite hip-hop album of the year, Fahim burns over atmospheric beats with a casual stroll, keeping his words crisp to the point where each bar feels as though it could snap at any moment. The Atlanta based MC makes his home in the South, but his delivery definitely has a kinship to the East Coast rappers of the 90s.
In this strange year, 2020, my most listened to artist was the ever prolific Tha God Fahim, who released two exceptional solo records, as well as a slew of collaborative releases. We're not saying these are the best albums, but rather our favorites. Together, we've profiled 100+ of the releases that made Post-Trash’s year survivable, with countless others recommended as "further listening," a section for releases you might have missed, and we might not have spent enough time with. Your next favorite band could be out there, it's just a matter of listening to something new. It's impossible to listen to everything released in a year and everyone has different tastes, but we can’t recommend these particular records enough. If we loved a record, we're including it (unless we just forgot it… which happens, in which case our sincerest of apologies). So we present our “Year in Review," a comprehensive guide to our favorite releases of the year, without any pre-determined length or insignificant rankings. For anyone tired of the bland and monotone, there’s been an influx of bands that bend and shift genre into new forms and new ideas. This year, much like others, was an exceptional one, if you knew where to look. A lot has changed since last year, but the one thing that never changes is the constant stream of great new music. While writing about music began to feel trivial, we kept at it, because for many of us, it’s the discovery of new artists, bands, albums, etc. For a lot of people, new releases are just that… a release, an escape, a brief moment of respite.
It’s been tough on everyone, in ways that are shared and ways that are unique, but the music remains great. We’re all collectively tired of this year.