Cupid Got Bullets 4 Me

Formerly known as Dre Dog, Andre Nickatina is a San Francisco O.G., though for the most part, the rest of the country has yet to wake up to his musical charms. Like many Bay Area vets, he's fiercely independent, running his own label (Fillmoe Coleman Records), putting out tons of new material every year, and beloved by longtime fans while unknown to the world at large. His classic debut, The New Jim Jones, dropped way back in 1993. In the two decades since, he's released dozens of high-quality, under-the-radar projects. On Cupid Got Bullets 4 Me, he switches things up a bit, with a super-hardcore XXX sex-themed EP more in line with offerings from Akinyele or Uncle Luke than the pimped-out coke-dealer style listeners are accustomed to. Some of the tracks (especially "RJz") stretch the boundaries of good taste, and his use of Auto-Tune is unnecessary at best—but there are still some solid jams here, specifically "She Like 2 Say" and the derriere-worshiping "WGz with the BBz."