"Hollywood off the bus fucked,
tender little destruct tucked
in the waist with a gold face, feed the
greedy with dum dums.
You and me in the butane, supe a lame
and he puffs up.
Little dragons of fad rap, suture their
face the fuck up."
from Drones over BKLYN
The second track of the album, "The
Full Retard", starts off with a sampled voice repeating "You
should pump this shit, like they do in the future". While cocky,
it may also be true. El-P came onto the scene as an innovator and has
stayed that way throughout his career. The album manages to be both bouncy and
avant-garde at the same time while the production stays true to his NY
roots and the late 90's electronica inspired sound he was part of
creating. It still manages to push his creative boundaries further into the, perhaps known, future.
Lyrically, El-P never had the strongest
flow but I feel he makes up for it in other areas- the tracks paint
visuals of urban desolation and loneliness. Once in a while the
themes are broken for more cliché topics, but it sort of fits when that happens. Over the course of the album, he manages to rhyme
both fast and slow. The tracks are unique but choesive- it's obvious
that this is more than a collection of singles, and as someone who
really prefers the "album" concept in general I really
appreciate that some artists still go into the studio thinking more
about making an album rather than record 14-20 autonomous songs.
It's no "Funcrusher Plus",
and as much as that saddens me I still like the album quite a bit and
I'm happy to see both that El-P did not go on hiatus along with his
record label, and that he is the same creative force he was back in
the 90's.
High point of the album: Oh Hail No ft. Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire & Danny Brown
Low point of the album: True Story
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