“The Underachievers” is such a misnomer for the New York rap duo. Particularly when you take into account the practiced and precise flows found on their upcoming RPM MSC debut, Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium.
Streaming now via NPR First Listen, Beast Coast affiliates AK and Issa Gold are back with their breathless, biting flows, which they use to tackle everything from spirituality to psychedelics. Layered amongst haunting background vocals and reverb-laden backbeats, there’s something very otherworldly about Cellar Door (as if the loopy, dippily-drenched track names didn’t already give that away).
From the twisted opening bars of “Luminescence” to the billowing closing chords of “Amorphous” (featuring a little help from prog-tinged staples Portugal. The Man), you can practically hear the spit hitting your face at 90 mph.
Whip-smart, informed and aggressively experimental, it’s truly a debut that doesn’t miss a beat.
The Underachievers’ Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium comes out August 12 via RPM MSC.
