Brooklyn, New York emcee Eddie Kaine celebrating Christmas Eve with his 3rd mixtape. Turning heads at the beginning of the decade off his Big Ghost Ltd.-produced debut A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the next couple albums Wonderful World of Kaino & Chosen were both moderately received until the Finn-produced Quincy Street Blues marked a return to form for Eddie in my opinion. Last Exit to Crooklyn was a mature sequel to his inaugural full-length, coming off Crown Me Kaine & the Play for Keeps EP by enlisting Wavy da Ghawd for 12/24 sequel The Nightmare.
After the “Winter’s Coming” intro, the first song “Don’t Count Me Out” jumps over a jazzy boom bap instrumental to get us started officially advising that he shouldn’t ever be doubted prior to “By the Window” dustily talking about heading towards another block if shit starts to get hot. “Rare Form 2” serves as a sequel to a highlight off the original 12/24 boasting that his pen’s truly 1 of a kind while “98” talks about the game looking like the late 90s from his perspective.
“No Replacement” works in some strings so he can clarify that he & his squad are unsatisfied living basically leading into “Ace Bailey” incorporates a soul sample to talk about having to toughen up because everyone he grew up around got popped referencing the Utah Jazz’ small forward. “We on It” featuring Wish Master comes together so they can speak of having things good in the US while the “Smoke Break” feels less of an interlude & more like a brief trap freestyle.
Kicking off the final leg, “Cabin Fever / Young Veteran 2” splits itself in 2 different halves & the 2nd part of it most notably picking up where another 12/24 song “Young Veteran” left off thematically while “Never Late” soulfully talks about always being on time. “24” spends the next 76 seconds asking who else out here’s going harder than him & “Snowy Nights” finishes The Nightmare recalling the cold winter evenings he spent hustling solely so he could get by.
Celebrating 5 years of 12/24 to the very day, Eddie Kaine recaptures the holiday season themes of The Nightmare’s predecessor by reuniting with Wavy da Ghawd for a sequel that takes every enjoyable quality the previous entry had going for it & pushing it forward. Wish Master has the only guest verse since the other 2 features handle chorus duties for their contributions unlike the previous chapter near 2020’s conclusion, but Wavy’s production boom bap production feels like a big improvement above Play for Keeps’ earlier this spring & Kaine does a solid job at recapturing the Christmas themes.
Score: 9/10