Houston’s own Maxo Kream, Trigga Maxo, whatever you want to call him is one of the best out right now. Maxo’s storytelling ability is unparalleled and it really shows on this latest project. Almost every track sees him telling a story about whatever he chooses. Whether it’s about killing somebody, his father, his life in the streets. This is especially apparent on Meet Again holy shit. Maxo kills this track, you can really hear the soul and emotion in his voice. If you really listen to the lyrics you will start to imagine what Maxo describes as he paints pictures with his words. It’s like that on the whole album. It shows on Brenda too. In an homage to Brenda’s Got A Baby Maxo tells a story about a young lady that goes through many hardships in life: no parents in her life, baby’s father isn’t there, and the money is short. The storytelling in this song is so compelling that you start to feel for these fictional characters.

Throughout this album we hear Maxo reminiscing about his past life in the streets. He looks at it with an attitude of: “I didn’t want to be there, but I didn’t have anything else.” He talks about all of the friends that he lost and how money came between his friendships. But then he starts to look at his current life which is filled with many luxuries: jewelry, lots and lots of money, and beautiful women. Maxo breaks down stereotypes of a rapper getting a lot of money at a fast pace and talks about financial stability and saving money instead of spending it constantly. That’s fire. It’s cool how he balances the responsible raps with the in your face flexes. Alright, now to praise the fuck out of this album! Dude, the beat on 8 Figures is great!! How it changes with the mood of Maxo’s verses is so pleasing to the ear. There’s two parts to the song and in the first Maxo is talking about saving his money and not selling himself short, then on the second part the beat switches and Maxo’s confidence skyrockets. He talks about how he has so much money and he plans to splurge on himself, but still saving in the process. And it’s hype as fuck! How the hell do you rap about fiscal responsibilities and keep it hype?!

Yo, She Live?? Maxo and Megan absolutely destroy this fucking track. Their Texas accents come out and they just flowing about how they need significant others that can keep up with their expensive and frivolous lifestyles. They both flow their asses off and it’s ’bout impossible not to bob your head and scrunch your face up when you hear it. Megan’s verse is so fire and shows off her rhyming abilities and her wordplay is incredible. Her ad-libs are hilarious too. Whole album is fire, but I’ve talking for a bit. Don’t just take my word for it, though. Sit down somewhere and pull the lyrics up and listen to this album. Get a full grip of what Maxo is rapping about, because it’s more than just the surface.

Listen to Brandon Banks here

Follow Deshaun everywhere: @deshaunstar