Bones’ latest full-length, Deadboy, is pretty much the stuff Tumblr-rap wet dreams are made of: murky beats, sad stoner aesthetics, flows straight from the playbook of Three Six Mafia circa The End. Over the past two years, Bones has strived and smirked in the abandoned alleyways of Los Angeles, working double time as both a solo artist and as leader of his own brigade of bloggers-cum-artistes: the nefarious TeamSESH. Lyrically, the 19-year old rapper sticks to the script (Weed! Money! Bitches! Zombies!), but when it comes to soundscapes, tacking down a common denominator gets a lot trickier; the trappy, vaguely trippy antics of “1968” and “Wi-Fi” would feel at home on Lil B’s recent 05 Fuck Em, but the fuzzy vocals and new age instrumentals are from a galaxy far, far away. “If you don’t abide, get ready to die!” he commands at the end “Lightning,” ushering in the arrival of…a moody piano tune straight out of Are You Afraid of the Dark? It’s one of many moments on Deadboy where Bones appears to be pulling our leg, drawing attention to overly-bold contrasts which should render the project an insipid mess. In all truth, the joke’s really on us: the weird little world of Deadboy, the drugged dirges that seep from its cracks merely reflect the detritus we shove to the back of our minds, or onto our Tumblr feeds. Same thing. Anyway, you can download for free via TeamSESH. Have fun!
• Bones/TeamSESH: http://www.teamsesh.com
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