With so much new hip-hop always coming out, especially on the underground tip, rare is the release that really takes you by surprise and immediately impresses. But the Forest Fires Collective does just that. A Bay Area squad that includes Mad Squirrel, Smif Carnivorous, Prego w/Zest, Edison Victrola, Dr. Lester, Spook, Sim, Smoke Bear, Hey Hey, and B-Bird, the FFC come with some seriously mind-blowing shit. Their new 12" on the power-move making label Weapon Shaped is really unlike anything else on the hip-hop radar, with a hyper-lyrical attack that explores animal life, the French Revolution, vegan taunting, arson, and Tourette's Syndrome, among other things.

The party gets started with "I'm Not Kiddin'," an upbeat jammy that rides a hot bassline, funk-laden keys, and snappy breakbeats. Under 1:30 in length, it's basically just an intro, setting the stage for the chaos that soon follows. "Vegan Barbeque" has classic written all over it, as the crew takes aim at the anti-meat crybaby contingent. "Spillin' grease upon my leather pants / pour rendered chicken fat on your garden burgers / I only eat what's been murdered / whether that be pork chops, pot roast, or you fucks / secretly switch up ballpark franks and tofu pups." Furious drums and high-strung bass action support their carnivorous throwdown, with a perfectly placed Phife sample as a bonus.

"Napoleon's Legacy" adds a touch of French history into the forest animal/meat-centric rhymes, with some extremely fast flows riding grimy beats and a weird, bass-heavy loop. Spooky synths and chunky beats set the tone for "Backpacks Off," which contains even more funny food prose. "I'm just like one of y'all vegans / except / I murder small animals and marinate them in vineagrette / in my kitchenette / which in itself I guess is somewhat contrary in nature to a vegetarian / I'm not done yet." Barely audible beatboxing and some sort of guitarish sounds finish off the track.

The B-side finds another absurd bassline on "Ask Who to Ask," with strong flows and off-the-wall rhymes flying to and fro. We also get treated to a few instrumentals. Beats-only mixes of the first two tracks are accompanied by two new joints - the exceptional "Down To the Ground," overflowing with chopped drums and full-bodied sax blows, and "Mysterious Origin," a 60 second exercise in spacey synths, plump kicks, and panned snares. "She Got Burned" finishes things off on an appropriately oddball note, with mellow singing about murdering Mother Nature herself, set to more dusty drums and smooth, low-end guitars.

While so much subterranean hip-hop tries its hardest to be as morose or 'deep' as possible, with over-done pseudo-philosophical ramblings and head-scratching beats, the FFC go the opposite route. They prove that you can still be experimental and original without sacrificing catchy production, and bring a blistering sense of humor to the (dinner) table that is impossible to ignore. With more records like this, there is little doubt The Forest Fires Collective will be very large, very soon. Now go buy it.

Chicago's Molemen collective have been making moves for a while now, building a loyal following through their extensive work as a unit and with others. In addition to countless singles, EPs, and collaborations, they also dropped two much-sweated full-lengths last year, "Ritual Of The…" and "Chicago City Limits Volume One". Though well-known for their sizzling beatscapes, they also bring some serious heat on the mic. On his latest project, Prime steps to the plate and delivers three tracks teeming with intense, battle-centric flows and spirit-crushing diss rhymes galore.

"Madman" flaunts an evil beat from PNS, pairing thumping drums with suspenseful string loops and deep bass drops. The angry, psycho-style lyrics explain why he's a madman, detailing various lunatic delusions and murderous intentions. Standout rhymes include "people seek to sneak a peak and see how my mind looks / there's naked bitches and monsters in the margins of my rhyme books / I make my pens bleed and breed the seeds of hate / devil's advocate behind a mass of skin I make you meet your fate."

Atmosphere's Slug shows up on "Lambslaughter," with a funny "American Pie" riffing line to start things off. Prime comes with more venom, unleashing a rapid-fire attack sonning wannabe rappers who never paid dues. Panik constructs an excellent instrumental, with heavy boom-baps and quality minor-key organ samples.

"Unbreakable" (previously found on "Ritual...") finishes things off, set to a super-hype, chopped-up beat courtesy of Memo. Here Prime takes aim at wack emcees on both sides of the spectrum. Commercial cats get served with choice lines like "you couldn't get five mics on stage with four of your boys," while underground linguists get taken to task with an assortment of viciously accurate lines; "an analyst I have to diss cuz half these kids just can't rap / they put on backpacks and label their wack shit as abstract." Nice.

All three selections are straight from the punch-you-in-the-face school of lyrical throwdowns, and Prime knows this style well. Definitely not for 'vibing' to, this record is the type to get you fired up and make you wanna start some shit. Great stuff from the Windy City warrior, and further proof that the Molemen are coming up fast.

Camu Tao of the MHz crew is a dope emcee. A very dope emcee. But his production is not always beyond doubt. Hence we have one foot in cold and one in hot water, when we see him being listed as one of the emcees on "Eastern Conference Allstars", but at the same time as the producer of this very track. He's however not the only guy rhyming on here, cause as the title suggest, we get some heavy weights step on the floor planks, to show all the rookies how the game is played. So along with Camu, there's his group homie Copywrite, there's the Smut Peddlers Eon and Cage, there's the legendary Tame1, the beloved J-Zone and the highly skilled (Mad) Skillz (screw the pun). And if you are looking at this list, you also gotta wonder how all these different styles can work on one cut, cause J-Zone and Cage are rather on opposite ends of the scale. And also what kinda beat could suit all of these cats? What brings us full circle back to where we started: Camu's production. How neat.

Well, what Camu hooked up is hard in nature and the horns that come and go, got a certain mocking feel to 'em, what just further enhances the impression we get that these cats just know how good they are. And that makes 'em sound cocky, but also comfortable and determined to not spit the worst verse on a cut so full of talent. At the same time these cats do what they do best, what means Copywrite is spitting some serious punchlines, Cage is digging into his twisted mind for some gory fantasies, while Camu still has one of the nastiest flows of all, although he kinda restrains himself on here. The same lyrics are spit over the Mighty Mi Air Max 95 Remix, that however is flipping a completely different beat, and flipping it several times. "The Unassisted" sample is opening, before Mi continues to go through more heard before offerings. Hence the background changes quickly and folks like Copywrite and Eon are paired with some of their own old beats. But what is strangely enough, the Camu verse is left out on this version.

Flipping the platter over we get "Nickel Nine" by Detroit's own Royce Da 5'9", who spits over a Reef beat, that also borrows from a source that has before been robbed on an other cut. Here, to be perfectly honest, Royce needs to reclaim some of the lost trust that we had in him. Cause with all the ills and confusions he went through with labels, ghost written verses and what not, so was his music not always quick to get us hyped. On here however he does right some wrongs, as he's putting a necessary amount of punchlines in between the hard ignorant rhyming, that lacks the approval of the word affectionators. Royce also addresses some things that always get thrown at his back (read: never in his face), and he sure sounds angry and only the chorus is sometimes giving us the impression of being done in an uninterested state.

Hence this platter is giving you plenty that makes it worth checking out. With so many folks on the first cut, it obviously only gives you very little of each cat, what might be somewhat frustrating for the fans. But it's a strong line up, that doesn't depend on bench points to take home the title. Royce is however a competent person sitting on the chair next to the playing field. But he is the cat that either has an incredible game, or can't hit a bucket to save his life. Hence this irregularities in his game needs to be worked on.