| Finally! I have always been a fan of underground hip-hop, but the wave of indie emcees in the last few years has really disappointed me. I want to be into lyric-heads like Subtitle and Busdriver, but I just can’t find myself really going back to them for repeated listen. But now, thanks to the avant-rap ears of Mush (who has already brought us such quality voices like Aesop Rock, Doseone and Labtekwon), I have the strangely named k-the-i??? (the question marks are his idea) to fill that void. Hailing from the school of El-P, the heavy-set Cambridge rapper does it all, concocting dense, Dalek-like beats with mile-a-minute rhymes that is posed for the underground but surprisingly accessible. His biggest asset besides his amazingly clear vocal delivery for such high speeds of spitting is his beats, which are as I mentioned are dense and gritty, but he laces them with jazz horns, impressive turntablism and a constant stream of surprising moments. He even drops a danceable number or two just to keep it real. Sure his lyrical prowess sides with the relationship dissecting lean of indie-hop, but it doesn’t retract from the music, which is creative, individual and worth your attention. - Audiversity |
1XLP/Out Of Print