Brooklyn rapper Akai Solo gave one of the best precursors ever for his Crush Everything EP. The SoundCloud description for the 11-track project is, “I do not own any of the production used to make this endeavor possible…I own the raps and the resolve.” That should be the standard disclaimer for all mixtapes – but of course, not everyone will execute like Akai did on his latest project.
Crush Everything follows in the vein of Akai’s previous offerings, as he muses philosophically – and alternately shuts down what he sees as BS – over soulful, evocative boom-bap-leaning beats. His objective is clear from the EP’s title, as he seeks to bludgeon every beat into gristle with his rapidfire rhymes. “I’m no Hitchcock, I’m an enigma to y’all haters familiar with the hate like the truth,” he rhymes on “Deuce Mega.”
Akai wears his Delphic qualities on his sleeve, rhyming with a free-spirited, abstract flourish that makes his rhymes seem like they’re crafted specifically for his GRIP collective. But he’s gaining plenty of supporters in the Brooklyn underground who seek to decipher them just the same.
You can listen to Crush Everything below.
https://soundcloud.com/soloshift/sets/crush-everything
