I hope all is well for everyone reading this, it's been a crazy week for me with the recent bout with the hurricane, so I decided to postpone a long-form wrestling piece I’m currently writing in favor of one of my favorite albums right now, Con Filtro by maxximus and Mashoni, two amazing artists I happen to have some experience with. I hope you all enjoy it, and new pieces are coming soon!

Now I am undoubtedly biased in this situation as a writer, as I’m very familiar with both Maxximus and Mashoni as artists and in the scope of their career since at least last year. Maxximus and I had collaborated on a song all the way back on my Repetition Side B project in 2022, while Mashoni and I have worked on a lot of music together, including On Death’s Door and On my way to Nothing with Zim. I say all this to say that I’ve been anticipating this album almost the entire time I’ve known Mashoni, even having the pleasure of hearing some early demos. But even with all that being said, this album has surprised me and taken over my speakers over the past couple of weeks. 

Released on September 14th on Spotify, Con Filtro is a 28-minute project from the rapper Maxximus and producer Mashoni, featuring DOBLEON and Milc. From the second I heard the single Burt Reynolds, I knew this would be the kind of project I’d be listening to for a long time. Mashoni has an exceptional skill of creating music that sounds both new and like it could’ve come out in a different era in hip hop. His more traditional style of sampling akin to those like the Alchemist, Mashoni’s ear for an extremely catchy flip is one of this album’s greatest strengths. That included an intricate understanding of Maxximus' raspy voice meshes to create a soundscape that was built for the artist from the ground up. Maxximus not only holds his own on this incredibly catchy production, but he also excels. With an array of sports references and recounts of various aspects of his life, he skates all over this project and creates a group of songs that not only stand on their own but also in the context of the project. Some standouts include Paul Pierce, Lloyd Center with DOBLEON, and La Raza. In an era of loaded tracklists and unprecedented collaboration, it's very easy to oversaturate an album. On this project, however, the features sprinkled throughout not only feel organic and natural, but they add something new to the project and help amplify the feeling permeating this project. Milc, DOBLEON, and 2 appearances from Mashoni on the mic all bring memorable contributions to their songs, with DOBLEON’s verse probably being the standout among standouts. One thing I want to especially direct your attention to is Mashoni’s ear for detail. There are few as good at creating transition points to smoothly move on to the next track or section, and this is incredibly evident all over this album. This level of attention lives in each track and allows the album to seamlessly progress, adding even more to the aforementioned grit and elegance that permeates every track here. Another thing of note is Mashoni’s contributions to the album from a vocal standpoint on Shoot in Tandem and Anthony Kim. Rapping on very few occasions, Mashoni’s conviction and delivery are unique, adding that extra sprinkle of a 2nd gear deep into the project. In both verses though, he sounds extremely natural, as if he was a seasoned rapper with albums under his belt. Everyone should tell Mashoni how good he is on the mic because I feel as if we need some more appearances from him in the future. All in all, this project is as replayable as it is smooth, a masterclass in concise and catchy writing and production, and is something everyone should be considering for their end-of-the-year lists.

Listen To Con Filtro: open.spotify.com/album/0o29hJHzFK5QRhmURkQ3WZ?si=-CBiiH_nRVOlSlHVViWPgw 

Foillow maxximus: linktr.ee/Maximus4747 

Follow Mashoni: x.com/mashonibeats 

Written By Blank Thought: linktr.ee/b1ankthought