Wednesday, March 20, 2013

#806 Heems - Nehru Jackets Mixtape

Das Racist are some of the finest rappers around, bringing an endless, free-associative style of hip hop flecked with offhandedly brilliant arty commentary. Here, Heems frees himself from his partner's grasp, and from the weight of being Das Racist, and its a double edged sword.

Absent the need to make big statements, and alongside mixtape-appropriate simple, single-loop noisy production, Heems can just rap. He can rap and rap and rap, unimpeded and forever, free associating between all subjects imaginable in all cultural crannies, making leaps beyond reason that seem completely reasonable in retrospect, and it's deeply impressive, and his reputation as one of those truly unstoppable MC's is cemented.

But absent Das Racist's carefully curated showmanship and overarching themes, eventually the variation becomes noise. I understand the ragtag, offhanded appeal of a mixtape, of demonstrating prowess by duration, and I'm guessing this is an even better stoner album than your average Das Racist release, but as a normal album, listened to under normal circumstances, this would have benefited from being half as long, or at least focused in any way 3.5/5

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