By Gary Suarez in Newsletter — Sep 19, 2024

Phiik & Lungs Just Want Your Company (Flow)

Their 'Carrot Season' ain't for mass appeal. +reviews of The Hell Hole Store and Conductor Williams & REi The Imperial

Rawkus and its artists hold a hallowed spot in hip-hop's underground pantheon. During the twilight of the 20th century, the now-defunct New York based label notably dropped some genuine classics from some of the city's finest emcees, including Pharoahe Monch, Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), and Talib Kweli, not to mention a few volumes in the essential Soundbombing compilation series. Def Jux heads naturally note that the preceding imprint was once home to Company Flow, a groundbreaking trio comprised of El-P, Bigg Jus, and Mr. Len. While only one of those three gentlemen went on to become something of a household name, thanks in no small part to the success of Run The Jewels with Killer Mike, their 1997 album Funcrusher Plus enjoys a certain deserved reverence to this day.

So when contemporary NYC rappers Phiik and Lungs earned the loaded distinction as a next-gen Company Flow by some on social media, sleepy oldheads and rankled purists bristled at the comparison. Off the strength of the Tase Grip duo's memorably frenetic Top Shelf Premium freestyle from two years ago, not to mention their more recent mixtape work, the analogy wasn't without merit. Still, the grumbling persisted to the point where POW Recordings mischievously campaigned on the idea ahead of the label's recent release of Carrot Season.

I'm not here to litigate silly online debates, and I'll leave the drama for someone else to leech off of for engagement purposes. Instead, speaking as someone who's been following Phiik and Lungs since 2021's Another Planet II, their new effort maintains an uncompromising spirit of impenetrability. Nothing about these 20 tracks, not even the boom bap flirtations "Gazpacho" and "Left The Game Dizzy," suggests that they yearn for mass appeal. Instead, they seem to only want the company of kindred spirits in this thing of ours, bombing atomically with Wu-Tang insularity on "Daily Operation" and the bifurcated "Kurt Mcburt." Their verses whizz by like ranged weapons, the rhymes deadly but unknowable due to their speed as well their complexity amid the syllabic slice-and-dice of "Abilify Robe" or "WHO/EAGLE EYE."

You might catch a slam on Versace-clad mayoral buffoon Eric Adams over the jingling muzak flip "Uber Dents," or you might not. You might whiff the canned Ragu pasta sauce disses of "Uninvolved," or you might not. The point is, unlike rappers who strategically hide behind fast flows, if one were to write all of this down there would be substance to behold. If nothing else, the Olasegun-produced effort gives Lungs' beatmaking alter ego LoneSword a breather, offering contrast but also putting his focus squarely on the mic. And with a rapper guest list this strong–AKAI SOLO, Michael Christmas! Fatboi Sharif! YL!–attention must be paid.

The Hell Hole Store, H.E. Double Hockey Sticks (buy it / stream it)

Darko The Super will go down in hip-hop history as one of Philadelphia's oddest rappers. Yet he's also one of his city's most compelling emcees, proudly leaning into his inherent difference while aligning with the similarly askew likes of Big Baby Gandhi, Homeboy Sandman, and Steel Tipped Dove. With the comparatively grounded iAlive (aka Donovan Days) by his side once again in the alt duo The Hell Hole Store, his bars come off even more delightfully outlandish throughout H.E. Double Hockey Sticks. His aggressive stance on "Supply And Demand" balances comedy with cruelty, crushing haters with cleverness before his cohort casually lands his blows with a N.E.R.D.-esque chill. They bum rush the show on the old schooly "Change The Beat (AGAIN)" and "Death Appears," later facing the music on the decidedly dourer closer "Wonderful World." Doing double duty as producers, the pair cathartically cruise through the exploitation funk of "Never On A Bus" and liberally lounge across the retro pop-rock organ fuzz of "Summer Vacation."

Conductor Williams & REi The Imperial, OPERATION FLAMETHROWER (buy it / stream it)

Though hardly some hip-hop newcomer, REi The Imperial ensures his ten-track outing with Conductor Williams feels like a fresh introduction. With the increasingly in-demand Kansas City producer at the helm, OPERATION FLAMETHROWER allows the New Orleans rapper ample space to connect with a wider audience of Griselda devotees. Following the foreboding instrumental opener "Mission Briefing," he swiftly shifts into high gear with a hyper-syllabic streak on "Spirit Of Excellence." His ample lyrical arsenal filled with references to everything from Good Times to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, his unequivocal devotion to the craft comes through on "Imperial Vs. Bowser" and "Title Shot," the latter's beat recalling the dramatic bombast and choppy vocal sample of Madlib's DOOM classic "One Beer." On jazzy highlight "Jessica Rabbit," REi tells a remarkable tale with precision and flair.