Nation of Ulysses, "The Sound of Young America" I need more art punk in my life. Nation of Ulysses was unafraid to just go for it, with their over-the-top political polemics, the atonal honking of the trumpet, the odd song structures, or whatever...
De La Soul, "Church" After the lackluster Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump and the uneven AOI: Bionix, I was wondering if De La Soul were done. The answer was answered definitively by the next album, The Grind Date: no, they were not done....
Flying Lotus, "Eyes Above" You're Dead!, the incredible 2014 album by Flying Lotus, is a shimmering mass of fantastic ideas, with constant shifting across tracks, well-chosen guest artists, and lots of surprises across the length of the album. However, it'...
Arsonists, "Session" My favorite song on As The World Burns, powered by that savage bass line. I'm basically a sucker for any upright bass. And, of course, it's fun to hear them trading verses back and forth. Prefuse 73,...
Killer Mike, "R.A.P. Music" I often refer to Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music as "Run The Jewels 0", featuring as it does the core duo from RtJ. The approach that El-P takes on the beats is...