(AfterLyfe Music, CD, digital)
Final yr, after a long time of performing, recording and touring, Burlington rapper Konflik dropped his debut LP, Again to Fundamentals. A brief however flawless set, it turned heads throughout New England and gained Greatest Album on the first annual Vermont Hip Hop Awards. Regardless of that success, the rapper sounds hungrier than ever on his newest challenge, Head of a Snake, Thumbs of a Thief.
The formulation hasn’t modified: Konflik delivers a full-course meal with a number of flagrant shows of sheer ability alongside the best way. Introspective and aggressive, he is an artist with actual vary, taking most benefit of a style he is mastered. The horizon of beats and rhymes is infinite, in spite of everything. Whereas Konflik all the time pays tribute to the tradition, he by no means falls again on clichés.
Album opener “Stroll With Me” is a superb idea observe, providing up a sworn statement of his life — however with none first-person narration. As an alternative, the music is a collage of visuals, phrases and reminiscences, all delivered with some wild, off-center rhyme schemes. He actually places the listener inside his head, and the audacity of his strategy hits exhausting.
It is a easy segue to the crushing increase bap of “Give It 2’em,” a layered memory of his early avenue life alongside the Charles River in Boston. As soon as once more, his reward for cinematic storytelling is sufficient to provide you with secondhand synesthesia.
Konflik flips his strategy on “Stomp,” a jazzy banger (courtesy of underrated New Hampshire producer OldGold) with a club-friendly refrain. The verses, nevertheless, are densely packed tongue twisters filled with double entendre gems.
The place Again to Fundamentals was nearly fully a solo challenge, Konflik invited a formidable array of visitor artists to contribute to Head of a Snake, Thumbs of a Thief, together with East Coast underground legends similar to New Jersey’s personal El Da Sensei and Boston MC Termanology. To not be outshined, Harlem rapper Brando Forbes returns for two blistering function verses on “Underneath Strain” and “Pop Pop,” channeling pure ’90s lyrical health every time.
Son of Tony, a rising star from Buffalo, N.Y., brings a raspy, dirty strategy that makes for a heady counterpoint on “No Peace,” which additionally has among the best hooks on the complete album. For my cash, the mixture is electrical sufficient to warrant a complete album from these two.
Lastly, “Greater” begins with Burlington expat SINNN dropping an absolute sermon over a soulful beat from one other onetime native, Nastee. Actually, Nastee dealt with many of the album’s manufacturing. That is solely proper, since he and Konflik are each brothers and lifelong hip-hop collaborators.
As soon as once more, the duo has cooked up an pressing, polished album that is on par with something the music trade needed to provide the style this yr. So, even in an area scene filled with extra proficient contenders than ever, do not be stunned if Konflik takes Greatest Album once more in January.
Head of a Snake, Thumbs of a Thief is out there now at konflik1.bandcamp.com and debuts on all main streaming platforms on November 25.
Disclosure: The creator compiles the Vermont Hip Hop Awards on his web site, Vermont Hip Hop.
