Very good indie rap. Smart, clever, funny, without feeling like it's trying too hard to be nerdy for the sake of it. The production's not crazy left-field, but it's reasonably adventurous, and the couple risks it takes work. He's got a kind of gruff mid-range voice. The flows are on point, and he does a good job of moving in and out of double-time. Subject matter ranges from everyday stuff (girls, where he fits in culturally) to political stuff (e.g. america's got problems but it's relatively ok on balance).

The promo label says no FCCs, but that's a lie. FCCs are noted as usual on the tracks.

RIYL: blu, jonwayne, j-live

1: drums, bass, swirling organ, weird little vocal thing in the background.
2: chopped vocal sample of the word america provides melody (loop of the "aaah" syllable) and the hook ("americaaah"). praise of america's good parts, though doesn't feel completely comfortable with its patriotism. "we are the 99% locally/but we are the 1% globally". my kind of patriotism (i.e., reasonably cynical).
3: FCC (fuck, shit) opens with heavy long-decaying kick and shuffling tambourine. beat stays pretty minimalist on the verses. double-time rapping. gets clattery on the chorus. guest verse from blu.
4: twangy guitar loop, bouncy drums, bouncy flow over everything.
5: FCC (fuck) marching beat, shimmery pads, rising nervous strings. double-time rapping.
6: flute loop, propulsive drums with flowing cymbals. guitar and crashing cymbals later. flow reminiscent of mos def.
7: FCC (shit a couple times) echo-y filtered something on the high end. chill, flowing, slightly reverby piano melody. weird but dope off-kilter flow. unfortunate that you probably can't play this, but you should give it a listen. maybe during safe harbor?
8: FCC (pussy) stomping kicks, steady claps, descending piano melody.
9: FCC (motherfuck) halting horns and drums. bass comes intermittently later. minimalist and funky.
10: lush keys, shaker, cooing "da da da" backup vocal sample (maybe not a sample, but has that sound). a bit of singing on the hook. just drums and vocals for a few bars near the end. beat sounds a bit like some of daedelus' loungier stuff.
11: banjo loop, a bit of guitar, no drums. double-time rapping. sounds weird and maybe gimmicky on paper, but works just fine in execution.
12: FCC (goddamn) mellow acoustic guitar loop, slow shuffling drums with brushes, occasional sped-up-soul vocal samples. very mellow.


recommended: 4, 10, 2, 6 (7 if it's ok for safe harbor?)