Brotha Lynch Hung Celebrates 3 Decades of “Season of da Siccness” By Returning for “Season of da Siccness 2: Kevlar” (Album Review)
This is the long-awaited 9th full-length studio LP from Sacramento horrorcore pioneer Brotha Lynch Hung. Establishing himself with the debut EP 24 Deep & debut album Season of da Siccness, he would later regain popularity in the early 2010s after signing to Strange Music for Dinner & a Movie alongside Coathanga Strangla & of course Mannibalector an acclaimed trilogy. Bullet Maker proved to be a disappointment in 2016, so it only makes sense for him to make a comeback with Season of da Siccness 2: Kevlar & not miss the mark considering it’s importance to his discography.
After the “Yaw Ready?” intro, the first song “I Can Be a Killa” is this spine-tingling opener talking about his murderous tendencies whereas “I’ve Changed” works in some strings to explain how much he’s changed in the last decade since we last heard from him. “Get ‘Em” grisly talks about a man who was trying to commit suicide jumping off a building & a bullet striking him in the midst of him falling, but then “Gangsta” featuring G-Macc turns the symphonic elements back up getting on their g shit.
After the “Start the Car” skit, “Smoke” featuring Phonk Beta & V8 brings the trio together for a west coast flavored smoking anthem just before “Ill” featuring Swifty McVay of D12 following the “Born In It” skit eerily finding both MCs boasting how ill they are lyrically all these years later. “Viral” featuring TA has a tenser vibe to the beat as they set out to become extremely popular & spread across the internet leading into “Eyes Wide Open” dropping bodies backed by guitars & hi-hats.
“Bang Bang” morbidly talks about being strapped while “Da Siccness” ominously brings gets on his wicked shit once again. “Blocc Monsta” has a dark, funky tone instrumentally explaining how much of a monster he is around his block while “Grrr” menacingly talks about cooking without the deep dish. After the “Grinding” skit, the final song “Southside” ends Season of da Siccness 2: Kevlar ends the sequel to Brotha Lynch’s debut profoundly getting introspective.
Over a decade in the making, it’s as if that Brotha Lynch Hung never took all that time off focusing on recapturing the essence of what made his first LP a west coast horrorcore classic & refining it in a modern fashion. His own production is as consistent as the Coathanga Strangla trilogy back during the Strange Music days & most importantly, he sounds recharged on the mic breaking down where he started & where he’s at in his life currently whilst keeping it ripgut.
Score: 9/10