Struggle Mike is a 42-year-old producer, curator, record executive and sound engineer from Buffalo, New York, who launched in late 2019 on the strength of his debut Great escape followed by Next as Wall & Progress. He finally kept his consistency Ties & Races until he signed to Black Soprano Family Records as an artist after becoming their A&R, who released his previous couple of albums IYKYK & IYDK last spring showing significant improvements over his previous production. And with that in mind, I had a feeling that the 9th LP at Mike's could reasonably become my new favorite.
After DJ Benoit's intro, Benny the Butcher & Heem's first song 'Escobar' brings them close to bongos from the late DJ Shaytalking for a sense of being stuck in the game, while Lo Profile's title track with Lucky Seven & Smoke Bulgagoes boom bap to brag about getting bills like the Buffalo team. “Sleepless” by BARS Murre, Eto & GoToMar$ laces the official keys with kicks and snares seeing what kind of man you are in the daylight before “Body” by Jeru the Damaja, Lucky Seven & Planet Asia reassures everyone how the they do all day every day.
Benny the Butcher, Chase Fetti and Rick Hyde's “Work” continues to talk about growing up in a society that's already doomed within itself, and after the self-titled interlude, Boons & Heem's “China October” mixes a Chinese sample with kicks and traps so they can get on their east side for a few minutes. OT's “Gandolfini” by Real & Rick Hyde gives me a bluesy vibe to the beat doing shit when no one else would but then “Quick” by Flames Dot Malik and Rick Hyde jump over the guitars to talk for being a hustler.
As Honor draws to a close, Fuego Base & Rick Hyde's penultimate track “Parasite” goes drumless, with the two explaining that everyone's getting shot like a bounty and still driving with guns, as the rap game remains sketchy and still shrouded in paranoia from drugs to Heem & Sule's “Well I Do” ending the album going back to boom bap 1 more time going down the throats of the heartless who keep the Tin Man attitude boasting the entire record Black Soprano cut from the same fabric.
For any B$F fans who slept on the last two Mike-edited LPs a year ago, you'll want to give Price a listen since it pretty much takes off everything they've made IYKYK & IYDK his best edits yet on a whole different level. We're organically greeted by a prominent boom-bam sound that many of the label's artists have been playing on a non-drum note, leaving most of the mic at home, with the exception of a couple of accomplished veterans and a few collaborators from previous material.
Rating: 8/10