Montréal, Québec, Canada emcee, producer & engineer Mike Shabb still applying pressure with his 10th EP & the 4th within the last month. Emerging in the spring of 2018 off his full-length debut Northwave, he would continue to make his presence known by putting out his last 9 EPs & a few mixtapes before gaining notoriety for engineering Boldy James’ 5th album Fair Exchange No Robbery along with producing “Switches on Everything” off Hitler Wears Hermes X & enlisting his mentor Nicholas Craven to fully produce his 5th EP Shadow Moses from top to bottom. He would follow these up with Hood Olympics, Sewaside III, Shabb Van Gogh, Fight the Power!, Vrai Rap Keb!, the Drega33-produced Lost Tapes & Maple Flavored. The latter of which was alright compared to the others I named, but Hood Olympics 2 has finally arrived nevertheless.
The self-produced “Don’t Know” asks himself why would he fuck with all of these raggedy hoes when he already has a fine bitch by his side whereas “Dilla” euphorically talks about his desire being like one of my top 5 producers of all-time: The late, great J Dilla himself. “Scrubb”aggressively issues a warning of pulling up on blocks for the purpose of wiping ‘em up while “Smack!” talks about doing real damage if he has to send messages.
“Smile” gives off a more sensual vibe altogether telling his girl that nobody can ever make him hate her since she’s family to him at this point leading into Spook making Hood Olympics 2’s sole guest appearance on “Unc Rob”, finishing up the 1st half by letting his partner hold the blick. “I Like It” kicks off the 2nd half experimenting with sample drill flipping “That’s the Way” by KC & The Sunshineband just before “Muffinz” talks about being fresh as fuck every time he pops out, baking anyone who messes with his girl.
The song “Moune Bizz” has this experimental trap flare to it addressing the kind of people who think people wouldn’t want to get flicks with him or the women while “Grandma” talks about his inability of trusting his Day 1 homie because he doesn’t know any better. “Jackie Chan” winds down the last few minutes of Hood Olympics 2 looking to crack anybody who fucks around too much & “Juxtapose” ends by promising that he’ll keep moving the way he’s supposed to.
Of the 4 extended plays Mike Shabb has given us only a quarter away through the year, Maple Flavored was the only one that I didn’t really care for that much but for him to drop Hood Olympics 2 in preparation for Sewaside IV somewhere between the next 8 months makes up for the averageness of the EP that came out last weekend. I love hearing the finest in Montréal today testing out new sounds beyond the drumless/boom bap styles he’s become known for even if he has the stronger half of the production & his pen’s a lot sharper than Hood Olympics 2’s predecessor.
Score: 8/10