Misfit Soto – “Lost Angel” (Album Review)
On his latest project “Lost Angel” in collaboration with M.O.B.G. Corporation, SKM member rapper Misfit Soto reflects on his Los Angeles raised battle scars and expressing his consistent growth in the West Coast underground Hip Hop scene. Known for his incredible producer skills and working with dozens of artist from all spectrums of Hip Hop, he is really putting out a brand driven by complete ambition and consistency. The LA underground Hip Hop scene is super over-saturated, but for Misfit Soto, he has been able to completely pivot away from that crowd and truly stand out in his city, as one of LA’s rapidly growing prospects in todays Hip Hop game!
Misfits Soto’s story, like his SKM cohort and legendary latino rapper CONEJO, is one of extreme endurance, influence and overcoming major obstacles to get where he is at today. He pays homage to true influential Hip Hop acts in this record, Project Blowed, The Visionaries, Psycho Realm, Pigeon John, Rifleman and many more great legendary underground LA acts! During the time between his last “Blvd” album release earlier this year, along with taking advantage of the Covid-19 loockdown, he really took that time to sharpened his style up and emerged fully formed, rapping about his close and deep connections to the LA underground Hip Hop community. Misfits’s gruff and dope voice, hard-earned lessons, and punchlines quickly earned him a reputation as a lyrical bruiser, though, his production game also continues to shine and he answer to the community that his beat game can’t be touched and compared to anyone else!
I really loved how this project introduced me to a few solid up and coming artists, like Yung C and Skeem on “The Youngins”, trouble p on “Hit a Lick”, and Baby Bounce who is on 4 tracks. From what I know, this project should be entirely produced my misfit himself, like a hand and glove fit, he know precisely how to utilize collab artists to their highest potential! “What You Know” was one of the tracks stuck in my head the most and is on constant repeat, super dope and deep track which I personally can relate to.
For all its bells and whistles, there are times where Misfits’s beats sound too clean, even sterile. “Put In Work” shoots for more of a mainstream sound and lands somewhere in a NBA2K commercial or something like that. The beat on this track sounds like it was originally meant for Snoop Dogg or similar artists, but was retrofitted for him instead. This only proves his wide range of overall talent and proving he a solid heavyweight in the game today! It’s hard to blame Misfit for wanting to branch out from the gutter-soaked underground boom-bap sound that he pays homage to so much. “Fly Mutha” is another track I feel he is experimenting with as he seeks attentions from the mainstream critics.
I’ve been waiting on this album just like this for years, I can say I’m impressed with what I got. The features were excellent, the whole project stayed cohesive with the entire feel and message of this project & the production is on a whole new level in my book. If you wanna hear a true rising star from the city of angels at his finest, then I recommend giving Misfit Soto and this album a solid all day listen, you wont regret it! Make sure to follow him on Instagram @misfit_soto_skm and follow the label @spantos_of_mobg.
Score:8/10
