PLUGGED IN: July 2021
Your monthly dose of essential rap music listening (does NOT include the rest of the essential records of the month covered through other written content, podcast reviews and interviews, or Patreon-only content).
ZelooperZ - Van Gogh's Left Ear
Bruiser Brigade artist, and frequent Danny Brown collaborator, dropped the latest installment of what has been a prolific year for the Bruiser Brigade in 2021.
Although ZelooperZ is certainly the most famed member of the Brigade (aside from Danny of course), I can’t lie and say I’ve always been enamored with his music. Similarly to Danny Brown, he has an enigmatic energy that is adrenaline-pumping with a wild vocal delivery. However, his projects haven’t drew me in, mainly due to a lack of structure.
On Van Gogh’s Left Ear, I believe ZelooperZ finally puts it all together and drops an exhilarating album that will bring you on a wild ride. What I find so fascinating about this album, is that it is truly bonkers from start-to-finish… but ZelooperZ managed to make it flow surprisingly well through his versatile delivery and strong beat selection.
The sound of this LP is trap-influenced chaos, with a very forward-thinking twist that keeps things fresh. The production is handled by names I am familiar with, such as a welcomed contribution from Skywlkr, along with many names I am not very familiar with. One producer who handles a large portion of this record is Dilip. He absolutely murks every placement on this album, including the incomporably brilliant Crash Bandicoot-spoofing “Bash Bandicoon”. Watch the video for this below, and bask in its glory.
AJ Suede - Avada Kedavra
“SUEDE GODDD”.
The above is the common adlib Seattle’s AJ Suede drops on just about every track I have heard from him. When you hear this, it’s your signal that you’re about to hear some silky smooth rhymes from one of the best spitters in the underground. Suede has one of the best rap voices in the game. It sounds like no one else. His delivery is so clean, where he enunciates his words and places them in his bars in a really deliberate way. The methodical nature of his rapping allows for his lyrics to be clearly digested by the listener.
It’s this element of clarity that defines Avada Kedavra, Suede’s most definitive work to-date. This album features a certain level of mental clarity in the lyricism, which pairs very nicely with the clear as Evian delivery from AJ. Avada features lyrical themes that paint a stark picture of today’s society in a thoughtful manner… all delivered with a subtly esoteric flavour that I find very tasteful.
The sound is both dusty and inviting, with Suede’s raps complimenting the instrumentals beautifully, perfectly cutting through the mix. The instrumentals are intricate, yet are very simple and straightforward at the same time, which makes this album feel very calming. The sound palette is comprised of dusty drums, nicely placed loops, and soulful flourishes that veer into subtle psychedelia in a nice way.
Through Avada Kedavra and his previous Camouflage Monk-produced EP, Suede is proving me to
RMPP Preferred Cut: “Houses on a Hill”
Stream/Buy on Bandcamp
LYNC LONE - Lost & Found: In Paradise!
Hailing from Rochester, Lync Lone has been on his grind in the underground since 2020, sporting a laid-back cool that comes through immediately in his music. He came on my radar at the tail-end in 2020, but fully grabbed my attention with his Acid Jazz collaboration with Iceberg Theory (an ode to Guru’s Jazzmatazz from 1993) several months back. Not only is that album good from a beats and rhymes perspective, but it gave me a deeper understanding into who Lync is as a person.
Lync comes off as a very positive presence that preaches calm and peace in his music. It comes in the form of weed anthems, or stories centered around Lync’s immense perseverance to keep working with the confidence his art will speak for itself one day.
Well on Lost & Found: In Paradise!, I feel like Lync has taken another step forward dropping his most complete work yet. Lyrically, Lync plays with similar ideas, except now he’s framed the music within this psychedelic voyage theme, which adds a certain level of structure and engagement that I appreciated. Lync takes you on a journey to a blissful paradise that will ground you, and entertain you.
This concept was carried forward through the album’s sound too, incorporating elements of psychedelia into these sample-based beats that made the album very colourful. It included dope production from August Fanon, BLOODBLIXING, Iceberg Theory, Lync Lone himself, and Kypat*. The latter who I was previously unfamiliar with, but produced a strange beat for “GONZO!” that was absolutely brilliant!
Unlike album’s past, Lync enlists some lyrical heavy-hitters in Vic Spencer and Big Kahuna OG, along with frequent collaborators in Iceberg Theory and Flashius Clayton. That being said, I think Lync more than holds his own lyrically. I believe Lync notably stepped his bars up. Check out track 1 on this project… it’s a wildly impressive lyrical display.
Lost & Found is a very chill experience that features a ton of musical variety to reward multiple listens. Definitely worth your time and money.
RMPP Preferred Cut: “HALEAKALA”
Stream/Buy on Bandcamp
JACKIE SCAN & BLOODBLIXING - ACID TABZ: GANGSTA EDITION
If you follow my coverage on hip-hop even a little bit… I make two things abundantly clear about my taste.
Anything August Fanon produces, I will listen to.
Anything BLOODBLIXING produces, I will listen to.
The latter is what introduced me to St. Louis lyricist, Jackie Scan. Jackie initially impressed on his guest verse on Blix’s strong Pray for Blood album from earlier this year, and from there I dove into his catalogue and found some more gold in his EPs with Iceberg Theory, and Foule Monk that were both fantastic.
Jackie has a seriously unique way of rapping, where his flow is incredibly fast, along with a rapping voice that is very raw and unmanicured. This gives his verses a ton of personality, and immediately makes his verses stand out.
This rapping style worked really well on ACID TABZ, over this off-kilter and off the wall production from Blix, because he really had to bring his A game to not get lost amongst all the noise. But Scan pulls off some impressive wordplay and intricate flow patterns that were dope as hell! Jackie wasn’t alone though on this album, with some solid features from 2 Dolla Will, Devo, Foule Monk, and MANSDEM… and a killer posse cut on track 5.
On the production side of things, the title is certainly justified, as this is some of Blix’s most colourful and psychedelic production yet. Billed as a batch of “Al.divino type beats”, the instrumentals are unbelievably good. The production still features Blix’s trademark gritty drums, but there is less of an emphasis on aggressive drums, and instead sees the beats lean into these weird synths, blissful soul vocals, and oddly manipulated basslines that are ridiculously thick and rubbery.
This is short 21 minutes jam-packed with great rhymes and beats. Cop immediately!
RMPP Preferred Cut: “ACIDDDDDDDDDDD!”
Stream/Buy on Bandcamp
Check out my interview with BLOODBLIXING here.
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