We all love a good collective tape, right? Cozy Tapes, Beast Coast, The Odd Future Tapes, Revenge of the Dreamers. They give an opportunity for the entire group to shine and show why they’re all here in the first place. With Bruiser Brigade it’s no different. To be completely honest, I hadn’t heard of any members outside of Danny Brown and ZelooperZ, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ze so this flew under my radar when it first came out in 2021. But after SCARING THE HOES came out, I went through Danny’s spotify page and saw the cover for this album in his “Featured On” section and saw that there was a whole Bruiser album! Cool, let’s check it out. Immediately the other members in the group (J.U.S, Fat Ray, Bruiser Wolf, Quentin Ahmad DaGod, Raphy, and Skywlkr) all make sure you know their names and command your attention. TV62 is a great tape, no exaggeration.

There are a lot of great songs on this album so strap in.

Okay, first off, J.U.S? He’s one of them ones. “Story Mode,” which he produced himself, is such a great introductory song if you don’t know who he is. The beat is held together by these looping, driving strings, and a classic boom bap drum loop. Just enough for J.U.S to grab you by the collar and remind you that he is not to be fucked with. My absolute favorite part is in the second verse where he goes, “I got my mans out the halfway house, he gettin’ mad, I done took him to the store two times, he wanna stab, I’ma hunt him like he owe me somethin’, run in the function, Snatch yo’ bitch if she lunchin’, it’s a point where it’s beyond punchin’,” for two reasons. First, the pocket he goes into for these handful of bars makes him sound so locked in, it’s hard to not scrunch down and make a stank face. Two, when he says “beyond punchin’” the drums change up to match his delivery. Usually, the loop ends on a cymbal hit, but when he says that the kick drums gets hit twice. Insane. Just off that you’re already in for the ride. “They Got Down” is a great introduction to Bruiser Wolf. His flow and delivery is like nothing I’ve heard in my adult life. He raps like a rapper from the 80’s, like if he said, “Broken glass everywhere,” nobody would be surprised. This sounds crazy right? I hated it when I first heard it, but as I kept listening, I started to like it more and more and found myself saying “The white girl!” randomly throughout the day. It makes you wonder what he was like as a drug dealer, because if a guy was trying to sell me coke and he sounded and looked like Bruiser Wolf, he wouldn’t get any money from me. “Ask Hex” is Fat Ray’s time to shine. According to him he likes his beats to sound like, “Bruce Lee’s Game Of Death meets The Godfather.” That perfectly describes this Raphy beat. It creates this feeling of anxiety, like you’re on the run from the feds and they’re closing in on you. Ray matches this energy perfectly. His flow sounds like an accelerated heartbeat, he’s full of adrenaline, but at the same time, he’s oddly calm. Like, he’s accepted his fate. The song is only 1:39, imagine experiencing all those emotions in less than two minutes. After it all, he ends it perfectly with a simple, “…shit.” Yeah, man, exactly. “Welfare” is probably the most like ODB Danny has ever sounded. The beat even sounds like a Brooklyn Zoo beat. Shoutout to HOLLY because it gives Danny space to be as unorthodox as he wants while still getting bars off. So far, you’re like, “These guys are crazy! It can’t get crazier than this right?” You’re wrong, you’ve always been wrong. You’re in the wrong hall of fame, buddy.

Directly after this, J.U.S comes back on “Friends or Foe” and over this haunting Dream Beach beat, he just flows, dude. This sounds like you’re driving around with your homies in the whip with no destination, but someone throws a beat on and J.U.S just starts freestlying in the backseat. Please listen to this song. My favorite part is when he says “I couldn’t get the Pyer Moss to fit, I’m stickin’ with the Ralph, I need to probably run a couple laps
Tennis chains on, She couldn’t even see that I’m fat, Ridin’ up Westheimer with the club guard” because as he’s rapping, the beat drops out. The bass gets muffled and mixed to your right ear only then by the end it comes back in and your face turns into your head. Your face is gone! Okay, shoutout to Raphy (again) because the next track, “Superhero” is one of my favorite beats ever. No exaggeration, this beat is up there in my hall of fame. Ze and Fat Ray both understand the assignment perfectly and deliver two of the best verses you’ll ever hear. Especially Ray, oh my god, he comes in and immediately makes this track his. Just this whole last passage, dude. “All these little Hot-N-Ready’s poppin’ up, make me want a baby pam pam, Hit the city with so many bars, they mistakin’ me for XanMan, True Underground King, pull a kick door when the door locked
I had to get on my Nipsey Hussle, got a nigga that’ll sweep the whole block
You can be growin’ yo’ best shit, ’til my locusts come and eat the whole crop
We really be on that GTA, so what’s yo’ ETA? I’m at the chop shop.” Raphy’s tag is the “low health” sound effect from Zelda and that perfectly wraps this review up. After this tape, rap needs to be on high alert. The Bruisers are coming.

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