Kovax – “Manifestor” (Album Review)

Kovax is a MC from Detroit, Michigan who’s been at it for quite a while now. I personally started noticing him when he opened up for LARS last year, but his set during the show left me impressed to see what he would do in the future. And that leads us to his 5th full-length album, in which he enlists Foul Mouth to produce it in it’s entirety.

It all kicks off with the title track, where Kovax brags about his skills over a trap beat some haunting background vocals. The next song “Dread of Winter” vents about some personal issues over a gloomy beat while the track “Special” talks about his place in the game over a rock/boom bap fusion. The song “I’m So Beat” talks about the positives & negatives of life over a jazzy instrumental while the track “Buzz Kill” is filled with charismatic battle bars over a beat with some prominently somber guitar licking. The song “Ashes” with Xtra Overdoze sees the 2 displaying a vicious chemistry over an eerie trap beat while the track “Heat” talks about how dope he is over a soulful beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVtEUUP1GN8

The song “Desk Job” talks about how trash his competition is over a horror film-esque trap beat while the track “$1.25” talks about his hustle over a trap beat with an immensely dark atmosphere. The song “Popov” takes a jab at his naysayers over a beautiful soul sample while the track “Empathy” talks about someone he’s beefing with over a minimalist beat. The closer “I Won’t Fall” gets triumphant over a joyful beat & then there’s the bonus track “Egodeth”, where Kovax destroys the confidence of all wack rappers over a grimy boom bap beat.

This is easily the man’s best work yet. It’s a little too short, but Foul Mouth continues to prove that he’s the best producer in hip hop right now with his varied instrumental palates & Kovax’ lyricism is more gruesome than ever before.

Score: 9/10

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