By Gary Suarez in Newsletter — Sep 6, 2024

Friday Afternoon Rap Roundup: Elcamino

A review of the Black Soprano Family rapper's latest, plus the week's new hip-hop album recommendations

In an effort to continue CABBAGES' overarching mission of independent hip-hop/rap music discovery, I'm trialing this weekly series to let readers know about new releases from artists grinding and thriving outside of the major label system. Each installment of 'Friday Afternoon Rap Roundup' features one highlighted album review/recommendation, plus a short selection of new or recently dropped projects for your weekend listening consideration.

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Release Highlight of the Week:

**Elcamino & Black Soprano Family, Built For Cuban Links (buy it / stream it**)

With Westside Gunn currently focused on building the 4th Rope wrestling brand, it's been up to Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher to keep the Griselda fanbase fed with new music. Both of them have dutifully dropped albums of note this year, the former's Slant Face Killah and the latter's Def Jam debut Everybody Can't Go garnering considerable attention. But their 2024 contributions aren't limited to their own releases, with their respective record label imprints churning out work by other rap talents. While Conway's Drumwork seems to be putting much of its weight on Jae Skeese, Benny's Black Soprano Family takes a more diversified approach with its far more frequent drops from multiple signees. By my count, we've received close to a dozen new projects in the past eight months from his camp, including ones by B.A.R.S. Murre, Fuego Base, and Sule.

Yet the most active B$F member right now apart from its founder has been Elcamino, a Buffalo-bred street rap fixture whose sharp lyricism and memorable Griselda features made him a reliable fave. As prolific as his reputation proves, Built For Cuban Links marks his third drop of the calendar year, following Here You Go and the Real Bad Man collab The Game Is The Game. Obviously named in honor of the Raekwon classic, this ten-track effort starts off with an appropriate Wu vibe check before Elcamino delivers a frenzied, verbose verse ahead of one by his esteemed guest Estee Nack. The autobiographical details of the title track act as summarized memoir, while the similarly time-hopping "Mill Prep" more than lives up to the pun's promise. Coke flow fiends can get their fix off the soulful base of "God's Favorite" and "Zip Lock Olympics," both boasting beats that feel like vintage Roc-A-Fella cuts. On Instagram, he brags that it took just three days to make, but even with its rather brisk runtime things never feels rushed.