Merkules is a 32 year old rapper from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada who began rhyming at the age of 15 under the original name Merk Mikz. He later became Snak the Ripper’s hype man to get his career kickstarted over a decade ago, dropping a total of 7 albums & 3 EPs of his own since 2011 or so. Following the acquisition of Death Row Records by one of the label’s original artists & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg at the start of 2022, the very 1st artist to sign under the revived umbrella was Merkules & he’s brought C-Lance to produce a vast majority of his Death Row debut albeit his 8th studio LP.
The title track marks his introduction as a member of the untouchable Death Row with a drumless piano instrumental talking about feeling remorse after surviving a near-death experience or traumatic event when others perished whereas “Loser” takes the boom bap route instrumentally to discuss being a failure of a person. “Grew Up” was the only track that didn’t have C-Lance behind the boards & one of the only 5 skippers here, but then the acoustic-trap hybrid “Blast Off” runs from the past as if it’s erased.
“Mama Tried” keeps the downtuned guitars in the fold favoring more of a boom bap flare to the beat talking how his mother tried her best raising him leading into the g-funk influenced “Wassup” featuring NHale linking up with the son of an original from Tha Row & the late King of Hooks himself Nate Dogg refusing to fuck around since they’ve experienced the ups & downs. “Out Here” featuring Classified was a decently dusty chipmunk soul collab hustlin’ on the daily, but then “Glory to God” gets derailed by Dax’ corny ass dropping the worst guest verse on the whole thing.
Elements of rock & trap get blended once more on “Inside Out” admitting to that being exactly how he mentally feels at the moment & “On Guard” featuring Shaquille O’Neal heads for a cloudier direction so they can talk about bringing it to the doorsteps of anyone who wants beef with either of them. “Bawse” featuring Prof sees both MCs returning to the boom bap saying they the type to smack muhfuckas through the element of surprise while “Forgive Me” asks God to forgive him for all the sins he’s committed in his life up until this very moment in his career.
“Smoke To” featuring Afroman cloudily comes together for a dedication to all the stoners out there since 4/20’s coming up on Easter weekend & Day 2 of WrestleMania XLI just before “Pair of Chucks” featuring Daz Dillinger shows off the brand new kicks they copped over a predominately west coast-flavored instrumental. “Fight Music” featuring Brotha Lynch Hung & X-Raided shows the trio on the verge of being ready to throw hands while the crooning “All I Know” featuring Evil Ebenezer talks about the only thing they’re familiar of & knowing they gotta change.
Detroit veterans Kuniva & Swifty McVay of D12 both join Merkules for the boom bap-tinged “Big Bad Bullies” refusing to fake the funk while “Assholes” featuring Chris Webby talks about always keeping ammo on them & only speaking practice when they shoot. “Safety Off” embraces a rap rock vibe only needing some kush & his wife beside him while “Deserve You” shows gratitude towards his ride-or-die chick.
“R.W.T.R. (Riding with the Reaper)” featuring B-Real chops up the soul samples again talking about driving around past midnight with Death beside them while “Mirrors” featuring Ricky Hil fresh off his & Ouija Macc’s 2nd collab effort Problem Children 2 speaks of having conversations with mere reflections of themselves. “Championship Rings” brings October London on the hook to talk about coming from the bottom & “Runnin’ Away” featuring DIZZYISDEAD finishes Merk’s debut under the untouchable Death Row on some emo rap shit.
Starting the deluxe run, “Inside My Head” acoustically airs out those in his life who’ve become envious of his success while “Twisted” featuring Jelly Roll talks being sick to their stomachs & drinking alcohol to numb it. “LowKey” featuring Twista intensely shows off their chopper abilities & Merk keeping up with the Chicago vet while the Mobb-infused “Yeah Yeah Yeah” featuring Too $hort talks about another day in the lives of real ones.
“Time” passionately shows 0 tolerance for anyone tryna bring him down while “Voices” featuring Struggle Jennings talks about hearing shit inside their heads. “Homicide” featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony angrily warns a murder or 2 will take place if you fuck around with them while “6:00 News” featuring Chris Webby feels as if both of them are losing their minds getting shade from artists who are now washed & past their prime.
Caskey pops out to a lay a verse during “Revenge” so they can tell everyone to get the fuck out their faces & give them the space they need while “Better Myself” featuring Rittz tackles mental health talking about improving themselves as people & everything seeming like they’re drowning in the deep end. “Not Like You” featuring Hopsin reflects on everyone who’s told them that neither artist wouldn’t be in the positions they’re in currently while “In Your Feelings” talks about never falling off.
“Woodstock ‘99” calls for everyone to go crazier than the festival that took place during the summer of 1999 & making it the best night of everyone’s lives while “Nerves” talks about him partying until it hurts as well as having blisters on his fingers because of blowing money. “Need Me Now” featuring Benny the Butcher observes those in their lives who respectively need them more than ever while “In My Sleep” featuring The Game rides around the city looking lavish.
Keeping the extra freshness going, “Hollywood Hills” lets everyone know where he can be found now that he’s signed to one of the absolute most notorious record labels in the entire music industry while “I’m Here” explains that he only fears God realistically. “Inferno” confesses to trippin’ as of late & simultaneously feeling larger than ever as an artistic while “The Title” asks what you’d expect after crossin’ a psycho like him.
“C’est la Vie” talks about the problems getting bigger as a result of the money growing & it hitting differently since he came form the bottom while “Pat Stay Forever” profoundly remembers the late battle rap standout Pat Stay. “DNA” featuring Conway the Machine talks about sleepless nights getting them to where they are in 2025 while “Do This to You” cautions of bodies dropping if you get too cocky around him.
Millyz makes the first of 2 appearances with “Nauseous” remembering when others said they wouldn’t be shit & them basically being afraid of the success coming their way while “Commas” talks about having a lot of problems & wanting to stack his paper even higher. “Cigarette” will be more enjoyable to anyone who enjoys smoking them even if I don’t since I don’t fuck with tobacco while “Still Him” talks about the hunger remaining inside himself.
“Distant” apologizes for not being as intimate as he usually is citing the reasoning for him suffering mentally & avoiding facing the fuck-ups he caused while “Middle of Nowhere” talks about being unsure as to where to go & feeling scared in the mental prison he’s inside of. “Run Away” featuring Phix contains a genuine theme of escapism even if Phix always stood out as being equally corny as Dax in my opinion that much for me personally while “Ha Ha Ha” gives a shot at trying to make more uptempo stuff.
As for “My Shoes”, we have Merkules talking about feeling unstoppable because of his Godly flow while “Ups & Downs” delves down the basement feeling worthless at rock bottom & seeing change soon as he accepted his flaws. “The West” gives even more flowers to the sunshine state shifting in favor of g-funk once more while the soulful boom bap crossover “Good Kid” looks back on not causing trouble during his childhood.
“No Favours” dismisses the notion of anyone doing him any favors since he doesn’t want to self destruct & wondering where everything went wrong in his life while “Lights Camera Action” exuberantly clarifies his success not happening overnight. “Give Me a $ign” talks about not trying to break & finding new ways of numbing his pain because there’s only being so much he can take while “10 Toes” promises to stay on top for eternity.
The longest reigning 2-time JCW World Juggalo Tag Team Champions the Insane Clown Posse showing up during the Shaggytheairhead-laced “Swish” only makes sense making way for Merk, the shortest reigning JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion Shaggy 2 Dope & the JCW Commissioner Violent J to tell these bitches they only mad since their girls plays both artists’ music while “Fill My Cup” gives a nod to anyone who’s going through hard times in their lives at this current moment. “Never Come Down” featuring Millyz talks being up way too high prolifically & never imagining they’d be making goodbyes while “Switch Lanes” pokes fun at other artists who’re bitch made.
“No Hooks” talks about the Death Row logo justifiably showing everyone who’s been paying attention to him in recent memory exactly who the fuck he rolls with while “Cory & Trevor” featuring Lil Windex of all fucking people likens themselves to both characters from Trailer Park Boys on Netflix. “Momma We Made It” publicly & assures his mother he’s finally become a successful artist in a heartfelt full circle moment & the final bonus track “Ego Intervention” comes off as more of a therapy session than a diss.
My introduction to Merk personally came right when he had a verse on the Tech N9ne album ENTERFEAR a month following the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns & all 24 songs on the final version of his Death Row debut combined with 46 outtakes that were left on the cutting room floor turned out to be better than I would’ve thought. C-Lance nails it at making Survivor’s Guilt the most well-produced offering in Merkules’ discography, giving more than enough room for him & most of the guests to enhance the enjoyability.
Score: 8/10