Bury Me In A Borrowed Suit

Earl Sweatshirt featuring Armand Hammer “Tabula Rasa”

Theravada and Rbchmbrs pull off one of my favorite sample production moves, in which a tiny sliver of another song is manipulated so the bits of notes and chords become an entirely new and different piece of music that feels totally natural but also is something very unlikely to be composed by someone actually playing piano and bass guitar. When it’s done as gracefully as it is done here it just feels like magic to me. Earl Sweatshirt and the members of Armand Hammer take the late night melancholy tone of the track as a prompt to get introspective – ELUCID pondering authenticity and people who “talk like they never got punched in the face,” Billy Woods delivering a densely written verse that’s mostly morbid, and Earl searching for balance and peace.

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Fly Anakin “Sean Price”

Fly Anakin raps with some worry and hurry in his voice, as though he’s trying to spill it all out while under duress. This is a sharp contrast with Evidence’s track for “Sean Price” which seems to move in slow motion, but they fit together as two different ways of feeling very present in a moment. It also gives this character study some dimension – he’s stressed out, sure, but also seeing things very clearly.

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