Ouch. Wow. Hi, everyone. Ouchthony Loudtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new OsamaSon project, psykotic.

Here we have the newest and second album this year alone from rapper and producer, underground phenomenon, OsamaSon, an artist who, despite the trendiness and saturation of rage music in the last several years, has managed to break through the noise, the literal noise, and become one of the biggest names in this new class of rappers that we're seeing today on the hip hop scene who are doing their thing over these hype, synth-y trap beats, and mixes that are just awash in apocalyptic levels of distortion. Now, if you're a long-time viewer of this channel, it's likely that your view of underground hip hop has very little to do with any sounds pioneered by the likes of Playboy Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, or Trippie Red.

But that is the current state of things as this term has come to take on a wild new meaning, one that I think has become clearer now that we are five years out from seminal releases for this style, such as Whole Lotta Red. Because for as mainstream as some of rage's biggest artists are, it's become increasingly clear that the fans and youngest and most active artists in this lane have little interest in finding ways to sweeten their sound and develop ways to eke any real, true hit potential out of this stuff. I mean, two of the biggest rage albums to drop this year are also two of the most abrasive and unforgiving sonically, those being Che's Rest in Bass, a project I enjoyed and reviewed not too long ago, and also OsamaSon's Jump Out, which just dropped in January, which obviously is not even a year out from this album.

And dropping this soon might seem of premature for any other artist. But for OsamaSon, why not? He is absolutely hot and in high demand right now. And it's not like crafting another album in this style, no disrespect, is like rocket science. It's not like rage is a super lyrically intensive genre of music or requires the highest levels of songwriting prowess. 99.9% of the time this style is about vibe, which is something that OsamaSon has already nailed down on previous albums. So once you've got that down, all that's really left to do is take the next artistic step in terms of wherever the genre is headed next.

And that's painfully obvious if you've been following things on the rage front at all. Like the most notable and exciting tracks and projects we have heard in this style over the past year have only taken things into more extreme territory. And that's exactly what OsamaSon does on psykotic. The beats on this thing are so fucking absolutely fried. The best and most memorable moments from this album sound like earthquakes covered in TV static. They sound like avalanches of mortar fire or maybe how a Chief Keef song must sound played at full blast after your ears have been subjected to close range muzzle blasts from fully automatic rifles just right up here. Again, just imagine somebody popping off entire magazines of bullets right next to your ears with no ear protection whatsoever for an hour straight. However normal trap music sounds after that, is how these songs sound. Yeah, it's like a trap hearing loss.

However, it's so loud and it's so visceral and it's so thrilling, I mean, there is an appeal there. A noisy, explosive, nasty, grimy appeal. Which I completely get off of the opener as well as "Addicted," "Maagdump," "T193," as well as "FMJ," "What's Happening" too.

I also want to make note of "Inferno" with its scratching synthesizers and bass with lines sticking out like, "We raise hell, we in hell now." You really feel it because it sounds exactly like that. I know I'm glossing over these tracks, mentioning them quickly here. But again, with this style of music, with OsamaSon, I'm telling you, the devil truly is not in the details. It's in the macro picture. It's in the clearest, most obvious, surface-level things about each of these songs that you could pick up immediately. As you listen to these tracks again and again, believe me, it's not going to be to peel back the layers and eat up the subtle little nuances.

Now, with that being said, the tracklist on this thing isn't completely one note. There are moments where OsamaSon tries to work in some tracks that are a bit easier on the ears comparatively, maybe a bit hookier or even flirtier lyrically, be it either "Worldwide" or "She Woke Up" or "Get Away," which sounds like a deep fried Travis Scott song. Even the song in it, which to my ear, sounds a bit lame in comparison to some of the harder songs on the record.

As much as I do appreciate OsamaSon not merely relegating himself to one style of rapping or songwriting, let's be real. The loudest tracks on this project are really OsamaSon's strong suit, and all these other songs account for the weakest moments on psykotic. But with that being said, it's not that I wish for OsamaSon to completely give up on broadening his horizons and trying to just carve out at least a little bit of variety in the track lists of his projects. It is a good thing that he continue trying his hand at that.

But when he does, it would be great to maybe hear, I don't know, a more impassioned or engaging vocal delivery, lyrics that are possibly more memorable. Even some work on his vocal range would go a long way, especially given just how awful the strained pitchy rapping/singing is all over the track "Gintama." With that being said, there are a few variations in the tracklist that I think go over well, like with all the cutesy synthesizers and beats on "Yeah I Kno." And the vaguely positive closing track actually ends things off on a lighter note that's quite nice.

Still, with that being said, I think OsamaSon is still yet to fully figure out the boundaries of this style and his artistry as we hear these pitched chipmunked vocals on function that just feel so out of place with everything else here. But yeah, while I didn't love this album front to back, I will say I do think psykotic is a really impressive display of rage-type curation, I guess you could say, because a lot of the mixes and beat choices on this thing are the best you're going to hear in this style this year.

OsamaSon has some locked in and engaged flows on a lot of the tracks of this project, too. It's with this that we get another album that, again, to my ears, feels like we are finally getting rage in its truest, most finalist form, or that we're now hearing the underground really stand true to what that term means in terms of some of its most key artists chasing after and delivering a sound that truly is unforgiving to outsiders. Because let me tell you, man, the sounds of this record, the textures, it's some nasty work. Which is why I'm feeling about a strong 6 to a light 7 on this thing.

Anthony Fantano, OsamaSon, Forever.