The Text Is All Bright

Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist featuring Kofi Stone “Check the Pulse”

The English duo Barney Artist and Mr. Jukes are unabashedly retro on their record The Locket, which is so devoid of recent trends in hip-hop that it sounds like it could have plausibly been released around the late ‘90s alongside The Love Movement, Things Fall Apart, and Black Star, or maybe a little further up the timeline with Dilla and early Kanye West. No one should take this as anything but a compliment from me – novelty and innovation is nice, but so is working extremely well within established traditions. “Check the Pulse” is exceptionally warm and easy going, and the vocal performances keep up the kind vibe, particularly in the final third when the mic gets passed every line with the casual coolness of vintage Beastie Boys or A Tribe Called Quest.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Marcey Yates & XOBOI featuring Mars Black “Ghosttown District”

Marcey Yates and XOBOI are on a similar wavelength, but their reference points are a bit up the timeline – Outkast, Kanye, Dilla/Slum Village. “Ghosttown District” glides by on a lush, slightly zonked-out groove, with a vocal sample that seems to blow by like puffs of smoke. Yates and Mars Black fit snuggly into the pocket in their verses, coming off like steady constants in an arrangement that’s very dynamic for something that feels so much like lying down.

Buy it from Bandcamp.