Lisa Jo wages war with music. A vocal artist, lyricist, beat maker, producer, mix-and-master mind, publisher, and Founder/CEO of SoundPulse Record Label LLC, she’s the definition of self-built. After a lifetime marked by trauma, loss, chronic illness, and more plot twists than most could stomach, she’s turned pain into propulsion. When illness threatened to steal her voice, she pivoted instead of folding, signing artists, producing relentlessly, and proving she won’t be boxed into one genre — or one version of herself. Hood Rats feels like that mindset crystallized: raw, defiant, and unapologetically multifaceted.
Right out the gate, “Everyday Struggle” (feat. J-Mac) sets the tone. Catchy, thumping beats knock against moody undertones while J-Mac delivers with effortless swag: “Everyday struggle / Hope turn to rubble…” The flow is tight, reflective but never self-pitying. It’s the soundtrack to pushing uphill when the odds are stacked sky-high. It’s gritty, rhythmic resilience in motion.
Then there’s “Everybody’s Friend” (feat. Ebony Reign), and whew, no brakes here. Cinematic production swells behind sharp, serrated bars as Ebony fires off lines with machine-like precision. She doesn’t waste a syllable. “Told ’em Imma be something way back in the day…” she snaps, slicing through doubt with laser focus. The beat pulses beneath her like a ticking clock, amplifying that hunger-to-prove-yourself energy.
By the time Track 12, “Street Queens” (feat. Ebony Reign), rolls in, the mood shifts. Gentle piano opens the space before the beat drops in, crisp and commanding. The verses spit frustration and resistance at breakneck speed, then the chorus blooms, soaring, anthemic, almost tender. It’s strength with scars showing.
Across Hood Rats, Lisa Jo blurs rap, soul, cinematic flair, and street poetry into one fearless package. It’s not about chasing trends or algorithms. It’s about survival, reinvention, and swinging for the fences — every single day.
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Review by: Naomi Joan