(Review) Ezale’s ‘Town Taxes’ Is Pure Funktown Funk

Every time Ezale drops, it feels like a moment for the Bay. If you know, you know — Ezale been one of them ones, even if he’s not dropping every few months like some other artists. His verse with E-40 back in the day stamped him, and if you ever caught that full project he did with DJ.Fresh, you already know he’s certified in this Bay Area funk lane.

So when "Town Taxes" dropped, I had to run it. Whole project, is all slaps. After I heard the whole project, I realized — no features. Again. I can't even remember hearing him on a track with another artist since that E-40 joint, and honestly, he doesn’t need anybody. It's wild to me because I was literally shaking my dreads in my car, one-hand steering wheel grooves, and it hit me that it was just him the whole time. No features, just nine tracks of pure energy.

"Town Taxes" might be the funkiest project he’s put out so far. Real Funktown funk. He’s mastered that West Coast house party sound — like, move the tables and the couches out the way because this is dancefloor-only music. It’s that real house party era music, not just a soundtrack for it.

And listen, he went 9 for 9. Nine tracks, nine slaps. I always feel like Ezale doesn’t drop enough, but when you deliver like this, it's hard to complain. These are real summer jams too. Mostly non-violent raps, just pure good energy, something you can really feel. I can’t wait to hear these records live — that’s gonna be a movie.

One record that really caught me was "Ironic," an original 2022 release. That song is crazy. Made me want to go dig up the sample myself. That hook — "it's ironic, all you wanna do is smoke chronic" — is wavy. Plus, an uptempo 420 record? That’s rare these days. Ezale stayed on subject the whole way through, and then screwed and slowed it down at the end, just for that extra flavor.

The intro’s a slap too. If you’ve never heard an Ezale record before, that intro is a perfect starting point. Heavy guitar bass, some trumpet sounds, and wild lyrics like, "I do a lil powder and the bitch do too, I do a lil molly and the bitch do too." It’s raw, it’s fun, and it’s pure Ezale energy.

Plus, it seems like he’s picking up some steam again — he just posted an "On the Radar" freestyle on Spotify so the video should be coming out soon. It feels like a wave is building, and honestly, it’s about time.

"Town Taxes" is one of those projects that doesn’t just sound good — it feels like it’s supposed to exist. Like it’s filling a gap we didn’t even realize we had. Ezale’s in his own lane with this one, and if you’re tapped in, you know exactly why that matters.