Today may be turning into a celebratory shindig for EL-P and Killer Mike's Run The Jewels project, but there are other lush pickings available in the rap underground, not least with New York City-based producer Steel Tipped Dove's new mixtape. Nattily titled & A Whole Bunch Of Crazy Motherfuckers 1, it's released in tandem with the ever-creative Modern Shark label and rolls out 17 tracks of savvy production perked up by an intriguing run of guest raps.
First listen standouts include Junk Science man Baje One's jaunty “That Guy's A Prick,” YC The Cynic and Hipnotic teaming up for the woozy and atmospheric “Run Away,” and Tone Tank's endearingly peculiar “Ellen Degenerates” which has him coining the couplet, “Tone Tank, born in the era of white guilt/ Hey, I'm just trying to pay my light bill, not the cable.” Elsewhere Big Baby Gandhi comes out of retirement for “Sprung” with Fat Tony, Kool A.D. and Lakutis trade verses on the eerie “Owlsley,” and a dude called Albert Rhymestein manages to get away with a punning name by rapping with aplomb on “Simmer Down.” Stream and dip into the project below.
