No Flex, All Feel
Smoked-out beats. Sharp verses. A creative bond that’s impossible to fake. With Joints In 4th Gear, Richmond MCs King Kaiju and Ty Sorrell have crafted something that feels both timeless and completely of-the-moment alongside producer M.P. Inspired by the loose, effortless chemistry of How Fly–the cult classic 2009 mixtape from Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y–the duo’s new album is a love letter to lifestyle rap: laid-back, vibey, introspective, and quietly profound.
“When King Kaiju said think How Fly 2, I understood the assignment,” Sorrell recalled. “We both came up on that blog era–when it was cool to be yourself.”
Between 2008 and 2012, a wave of independent rap talent found fame through digital mixtapes hosted on blogs, forums, and platforms like DatPiff and 2DopeBoyz. This was the blog era: a period that democratized access to new voices and fostered experimental, genre-blurring sounds. Artists like Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Tyler, the Creator, Mac Miller, Earl Sweatshirt, Joey Bada$$, and Action Bronson built cult fanbases not through traditional labels but through consistency, charisma, and community. It was a time when “cool” didn’t require co-signs—just personality and hard drive space.
With M.P, who handled the album’s entire production, they’ve created a record that doesn’t try to chase trends or force a concept. Instead, it’s an easy ride, confident in its own lane. The beats are lush but unfussy. The hooks are sticky but never corny. It’s music for riding around in golden hour light, or posted up with friends, letting time stretch out.
Each track feels like it’s unfolding in real time, and that’s because it did. “Everything was written while the beat was being made,” Kaiju said. “That was the first time I’ve worked on an entire project going that way. I don’t think there was a single song that took longer than two hours.”
That immediacy gives the record its shape. It’s filled with warmth and instinct–the kind of sonic atmosphere that only happens when artists fully tap into each other’s rhythms. “That’s the cool part of everything being made in the room together,” Kaiju continued. “You immediately have that feedback from everybody else that’s involved.”
M.P, the glue between them, brings a producer’s discipline without ever dimming the vibe. “Miles is a really good producer,” Sorrell said. “He’s amazing at making beats but also getting the best out of us. He’s one of the few people that, if they’re like ‘nah, do it again,’ I don’t feel a type of way about it.”
Kaiju expands on that dynamic: “We were really a team–like a sports team. M.P was drawing up the plays. If we didn’t execute right, he was like ‘run that drill again’ until we got it right.”
The album features verses from a handful of local artists–M.Y.L.O., DuctTape Jesus, Hernbean5150–and a skit appearance by Chandler. But even the features feel organic, almost spontaneous. “It wasn’t like, ‘this song is for you,’” Kaiju said. “It was more like, ‘you’re in here sharing this situation and vibe with us, so if you want to be on it, do it right now.’”
The effect is communal and immersive, less like a studio project and more like a shared moment. On tracks like “Escape,” that cohesion comes through in every detail, from the spacious groove that loops beneath the verses to the calm precision of Kaiju, Sorrell, and Hernbean5150’s flows. They’re not rapping to flex. They’re rapping to connect.
“Different music has different function,” Sorrell said. “I’m not looking to listen to Playboi Carti the same way I’m looking to listen to Kendrick Lamar.” On Joints In 4th Gear, they’re not trying to be either… they’re trying to be themselves.
And that range–between levity and depth–is part of what makes Joints In 4th Gear so compelling. It doesn’t try to lecture or posture. It just offers a lens into their lives, told plainly but poetically. “Everyone has their style and their thing; telling their story, telling their truth,” Kaiju said. “But usually what’s on the radio is more like ‘I got millions of dollars’, ‘I’m shooting at people’. But that’s not me.”
“What we’re talking about is so relatable,” he added. “Nothing we’re talking about is out of reach—maybe a couple of cars we said we wanted.”
For Kaiju and Sorrell, Joints In 4th Gear is more than nostalgia. It’s a call back to a time when music didn’t need to be algorithmically optimized, and rappers didn’t need to pretend they were billionaires to be respected. It’s about friendship, mutual trust, and rediscovering joy in the process.
“It really is the blog era feel,” Kaiju said. “I think we need more of that. That time was so creative, and everybody had so much fun. And people don’t realize–we got a lot of artists that we still listen to today from that era.”
In an age of over-curated playlists and image-first rollouts, Joints In 4th Gear is refreshingly unbothered. It doesn’t beg for your attention. It earns it. Not by shouting, but by being real, from the first bar to the last beat.
Joints In 4th Gear is set for release on Friday, July 18, and you can pre-save it now by clicking here. To stay connected on future releases and announcements, make sure to follow King Kaiju, Ty Sorrell, and M.P on social media.
