Hip Hop Review: AOHB - "The Warm Up" EP
On June 4th 2022 AOHB released his two pack EP "The Warm Up" on Bandcamp for early purchase and later onto DSPs for free. The EP has two features in two of Upstate's heavy hitters, Anthony Kannon and MBK Richy. A daunting task for a young artist to be able to work alongside two established talented artists but AOHB has been receiving plenty of love for his lyrical ability and talent himself. So i'm sure he'll deliver.
Watch Ya Back - Ft. MBK Richy
This is all I need from the introduction track of a two pack EP. Richy is fantastic and alongside AOHB they deliver a great lyrical masterpiece. AOHB starts this one out but it shifts to Richy on the second half of the hook and right into Richy on the first verse and he delivered. I really liked the structure of this song with Richy coming in at the end of the hook especially given that the hook itself was more lyrical than you're typical melodic hit so it was a smooth transition and then right into Richy's dope verse. Then we got the hook again and one last bit from Richy there before AOHB finished off with a confident second verse. They diverted from the traditional feature track here and it was well done. Smart by AOHB to be heard first on the hook while still kind of taking a backseat to Richy for the first verse. He didn't bullshit his verse either which lead to a well done track. Rating: ****
Huaraches - Ft. Anthony Kannon
This one's a lot more slowed down and we have a more recent verse from Kannon as can be see by way of the slowed down raspy tone he's brought to his music as of late. It's a good verse from Kannon but not my favorite from him as it's just a bit too slow for me though I can't discredit the verse itself. AOHB brings his lyrical strength to this one and his tone/speed help shift the vibe of this track just a bit to make it less slow jazz rap though it's still primarily that. I would've liked for AOHB's vocals to either be louder or his delivery to be more aggressive as the slow tempo of this one has me just waiting for either artist to go crazy but it's not happening. Both verses are good but this one is not as much for me as "Watch Ya Back". Rating: ***
AOHB has been calculated with his releases taking his time and collaborating with some local heavyweights, forcing himself to step it up and every time he does. This two pack EP is another solid example of that. He has MBK Richy on one track and Anthony Kannon on another and at no point does he feel like he is completely outshined. He holds his own and delivered two good tracks where the featured artist doesn't overshadow the lead artist on the track. Between the two tracks "Watch Ya Back" is my favorite of the two as it did everything I think it needed to and was done so effectively. This is one to check out if you're a fan of lyrical rap in any capacity or if you're a fan of local hip-hop you've gotta give this some love as all three artists did their thing. You can still purchase the 2 pack on Bandcamp and I strongly encourage you to do so, streaming numbers are great for the ego but financial support can help AOHB continue to produce sweet content like this so throw him $10 and check out the project!
Final Rating:
***1/2 - Well done little two pack, too short to give a higher rating but absolutely worth checking out and deciding for yourself!