kRASHOUT KINGS ALBUM REVIEW
“It wasn’t supposed to be deep” - Tripp Shelton after I reached out to let the man know he was rapping his ass off on this one. He approached this one with one goal, flex lyrically with angry bars. Mission accomplished.
After hearing Jan’s Boy roughly one year ago, I thought that was a wrap for Tripp, it came off as a storytelling masterpiece to introduce the listener to everything that made him the man today- The perfect album to cap off 20 years of rapping.
I’m glad I was wrong. Krashout Kings was a hard 180 from Jan’s Boy in the sense that I almost didn’t care about the stories being told, despite the lyrics painting images of revenge, murder and every scenario Tripp placed himself and others in vividly. I know dude can rap, I know you’re not getting a feat if you cannot rap - so what was I looking for? Crash outs. You cannot name an album Krashout Kings if you are not familiar with what that means, on sight - “on ‘til we gone.” No thoughts, all action. This was achieved throughout.
I could go track by track and give you a number rating, but that would be disingenuous - I don’t operate on that. I need to tell you briefly what each track did for me.
Dance: This one is fun. The first minute does its job of roping you in and giving you a general idea of what may have made the Krashout King what he is and then from about 1:30 on your bobbing your head and now you're ready to mask up and kick in the door of someone you ain’t seen in years but still want to let ‘em know you remember ‘em. Perfect introduction.
Hollow Earth: One of my favorites because it’s RAP. It’s competition, not just with others - but himself. “How the fuck ya’ll finna ever get stronger if y’all aint’ never ran through the gauntlet when they hear you got bars and make you stand up on it” This shit made me want me to run a marathon lmao. Interpretation matters and this is deeper than music to me personally, you should be able to stand on your shit. Own your shit. After a couple spins this was in my top 3.
On Go: Chris Jones sticks out here. There are a few features on here and after setting the tone with Dance and Hollow Earth I had high hopes for all of them and Chris did not disappoint. Flow was immaculate, wordplay was on point. Definitely looking forward to a deeper dive on dude.
Take Your Life Pt.4: This one was revenge storytelling at its best. When I mentioned the images above - this was the track I thought of. I envisioned a black Sam Fisher with one mission - officer down. It took me a couple listens to really catch everything on this one because the production was so good. I almost couldn’t focus on Tripp because the dark and eerie bass/keys was enough to have me nodding & vibing.. and I’m a lyrics > beats type guy. Probably the darkest song on the album.
0-0: My favorite on the album. I could bench press you while you bench press your max, as long as this shit is on in the background. It’s one of those tracks that makes you feel untouchable, on some mutant shit. Aside from that, the transitions from bar to bar is unexplainable. No really, I can’t explain it. I don’t have the technical terms, but I am always amazed when an artist can go from one rhyme pattern to the other seamlessly.
God Loves, Man Kills: This one gives you a look into that rural hood. The connection between hunting an animal and hunting a person. How blood and murder is ingrained into us whether want it or not, it’s natural for man to be barbaric and we’re condemned if we tap into it. Man is a historic murderer and this one does a good job traveling through history to explain it.
Trust Me: This one was just fun. It felt like a collaborative effort of bars. Every person on the track knew that the next was going to go hard so you better do the same and it hit. Each artist’s verse did it’s job while keeping their own unique style.
Krash: My personal favorite. THIS is what it means to crash out. Nothing pre-meditated. Reactionary violence, no thoughts of repercussion or what’s next. A perfect track to tie it all together. I really don’t have much to say on it, I was even more impressed to learn this one got added late considering how perfect I thought it was for the tape.
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I am a firm believer that lyrics and production still matter in 2025 - LG Dupree, Tripp, and every feature involved hit the nail on the head with this one.
Go stream / buy Krashout Kings wherever you get your music from.
