Malz Monday’s 'Corner Boy' is a Modern Classic, Equal Parts Lyrical Diatribe and Coming-of-Age Tale
Evan Dale | September 12, 2025
Everything about Malz Monday is the product of circumstance coalescing with persistence. His tone and flow – both timelessly East Coast – are tethered to his roots in New York, without feeling played out or overly nostalgic for regional sound or one tied to a specific moment in time. Rather, his propensity for addicting beats, adorned to a flexibility in his cadence and delivery, shines a light on the aspect of his craft that was sharpened during part of his youth spent in Atlanta. It gives Malz a modern lens through which to project a timeless skillset that feels ever-rarer in the trend-driven landscape of hip-hop in the 2020’s. Then there’s his prolific output – almost an urgency – that was bore into his early artistry, releasing new mixtapes weekly as an emerging rapper. The chosen day he scheduled those weekly releases gave him his moniker. Malz Monday is a product of Malz Monday just as much as he is a product of the path he’s on, circularly crafting music so true to himself and his experiences that authenticity bleeds unmistakable and unforced through the soundwaves. Derivative at times of New York’s signature, of Atlanta’s creativity, of the past and – hopefully, assuming his imminent impact on the current scene – of the future, he’s one of our moments most ubiquitous artists.
With his latest album release – his second of the year behind March’s Either Way It’ll Be Okay, or by some measure, his third behind its Extended Edition – he’s only continuing to prove his unique position within the current rapscape, an unparalleled lyrical force with a compelling story to tell, and a whole lot of work ethic and well-articulated braggadocio with which to tell it.
‘Just a product of the environment, Stomached the violence so much it builds up the tolerance,’ Malz reinforces during one of his many lyrical heat checks at Corner Boy’s opening track, Nobody Rich In The Ghetto. The bar is only one pulled from a waterfall of poetic dexterity that introduces the album as Malz’s coming-of-age magnum opus. Bolstered with incalculable anecdotal diatribe on his upbringing, from the embarrassment for wearing his PayLess Shoes on the first day of school, to his first time serving time, the project from head to toe feels so uncalculated with its discourse, yet so meticulous with its craft, that its overarching arch feels relatable to a listener even though the story is so personal to the artist. Whether taken as a cautionary tale or a simply a deeply detailed narrative, his is a story worth hearing and truly listening to.
‘I got to show my kids a better way. I ain’t graduate, I seen a cell before eleventh grade.’
The next track – as will emerge as a pattern throughout Corner Boy – explores further into the stylistic range that Malz is able to navigate without losing any kind of grip on the thematic direction – that coming-of-age heart – driving the album forward. Heavy As It Gets sees the rapper adhere his bars to a distinct head-nodding flow through the hook and the first verse. The second verse sees him defy the rules set in the first half of the track with more elastic arrangements.
A little further down in the track list – albeit keeping true to the understated reminiscence for East Coast production and Malz’s inescapable knack for his signature flow and intentionality in writing – Prevail sees him slow things down a bit. The cut – which feels especially hopeful – is one on the album that pulls his ability to pull a melody into focus. A couple tracks later, Piece of Mine – which gnaws its way through a darker energy – achieves a similar display of Malz’s knack for pulling together a more vocally enlightened hook while folding it into his stringent attack of lyricism.
Track to track, his signature for blending timeless raps and East Coast production into unexpected shifts in his flow and the aptitude for stretching out his hooks into something a tad more melodic makes him an image of modern litheness in the rap game. Corner Boy in particular – as an immersive contemporary coming-of-age concept – leaves the project – and by extension, the rapper – dynamic for fans of any era of rap music. In a scene where so many artists are doing so much less, Malz Monday is doing more than most, and making it feel effortless.