In certain corners of the internet, the abstract DIY freakout A City Drowned In God’s Black Tears is regarded as one of last year’s best rap albums. It comes from a Baltimore-based duo, rapper Brian Ennals and producer Infinity Knives, who have been working under the radar for years, and it represents a big step up for those two. Now, Ennals has gone to work with another producer, the New York underground veteran Blockhead, for a new album. Early results of that combination are extremely promising.
Blockhead came up as a regular Aesop Rock collaborator, and the two of them still work together a lot. For something like a quarter-century, Blockhead has stayed active on the New York underground, making great beats for entire generations of arty rappers. This is the man responsible for a 2023 track called “Now That’s What I Call A Posse Cut Vol. 56” (Feat. Bruiser Wolf, Danny Brown, billy woods, & Despot).
Together, Brian Ennals and Blockhead made Boatshoes, a new collaborative album that features appearances from rappers like Fatboi Sharif, ShrapKnel, and Defcee. In a press release, Ennals says: “This is a dude that’s made albums with Aesop Rock and billy woods, so I was aware there was a level of quality I had to reach. Not to toot my own horn, I think I did… It’s the most fun rapping I’ve had in a long time. Block’s productions were funky as fuck, almost pop, but still totally totally rap. They didn’t sound like anything I’d ever heard.”
For his part, Blockhead says, “Brian met the challenges of writing to beats like this at every turn. We ended up with an album that sounds nothing like anything we have done before. And when you’ve been doing this as long as I have, that’s a rare accomplishment.” Lead single “Aldente” really does sound different. Blockhead’s rich, layered beat includes more harmonica action than I would’ve expected, and Ennals repeatedly launches into the hook from fellow Baltimore rapper 2Pac’s classic “Hail Mary.” (Pac only lived in Baltimore for a few years as a kid, but we still claim him.) Below, check out “Aldente” and the Boatshoes tracklist, which includes another entry in Blockhead’s “Now That’s What I Call A Posse Cut” series.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Aldente”
02 “Roll Call
03 “Pass The Yayo”
04 “Bareback”
05 “Let It Burn (Like Usher)”
06 “Yellow School Buses” (feat. Mike Mayo & Defcee)
07 “Wet Noodle”
08 “Signed Sealed Delivered”
09 “Soy Boy”
10 “Now That’s What I Call A Posse Cut Vol. 87” (feat. Fatboi Sharif, Shrapknel, & DeathIRL)
11 “Smirnoff, Via A Straw”
12 “Shyne”
13 “Wonderwall”
Boatshoes is out 7/17 on Phantom Limb.
