Boards Of America, The Long Way

After weeks of fan speculation and mysterious VHS circulation, Warp Records finally revealed details of the forthcoming Boards Of Canada album. The Scottish duo's first full-length in nearly 13 years, Inferno won't arrive until May 29, yet everything from the promotional visuals to the vinyl edition artwork suggests this might be the bleakest, oddest outing ever from Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison.

By now, fans of instrumental hip-hop assuredly have BoC in their collections in some capacity. Early releases like Hi Scores and Twoism from the 1990s showcased a left-of-center love for breakbeats and boom bap, these rugged rhythms underpinning their beauteous if foreboding melodies and drones. (Even without lyrics, their themes often veer into subversive topics, including religious cults like Marshall Applewhite's Heaven's Gate and David Koresh's Branch Davidians.) That signature sound fully solidified on 1998's seminal Music Has the Right to Children, evolving into more abstract forms on early-to-mid aughts successors Geogaddi and The Campfire Headphase.

Some three decades since their debut, BoC may or may not be particularly interested in or inspired by hip-hop, and we'll know for sure in about a month's time when Inferno officially arrives. Still, other veteran producers continue to draw upon the genre in their contemporary works.

Take, for instance, Eliot Lipp, a Brooklyn-based producer who released his eponymous debut via Scott "Prefuse 73" Herren's Warp-affiliated imprint Eastern Developments in 2004. He recorded follow-ups that same decade for Hefty Records and Mush Records, with his 2008 album The Outside emphasizing a squelchy, funky streak that became a reliable element of his style.

In recent years, he linked with another NYC electronic instrumentalist, Tony Simon. As Blockhead, he put out his Ninja Tune debut Music By Cavelight the same year as Lipp's first LP, going on to drop multiple meaningful projects for the label, including 2009's outstanding The Music Scene, while concurrently working closely and famously with Aesop Rock. But by the end of 2010s, Lipp and Simon formed a pro-nonsense duo of their own with the no-nonsense name Lipphead.

After two albums for YHS Records, 2022's In The Nude and 2023's From The Back, they've reconvened for The Long Way. These are two grown men reveling in memes and inside jokes, infusing their music with no shortage of whimsy and ridiculousness. So if their latest title triggers anything of the PB&J variety in you, congratulations on your early-onset brainrot.

Now affiliated with Def Pressé, the London label behind Blockhead's library music exercise Luminous Rubble, Lipphead are unapologetically fun as hell from the start. Opener "Bayou Sexual" is a zydeco-spattered excuse to work on their Bobby Boucher impressions and the bizarrely bossa nova adjacent "Guano Be Startin' Somethin'" soon takes a rubber-faced Jim Carrey turn. But as much as the fellas might seem to be goofing off, their moderately plunderphonic approach swiftly and wholly transcends novelty to make for a genuinely innovative, altogether gratifying listen from end to end.

"Lightwork" applies an Eastern edge and chipmunk soul panache to its wondrous funk, while the country-fried "Inbred & Butter" inverts that globally outward gaze in audaciously down-home fashion. Groovy and airy, the sumptuous "Enter The Ricola Man" sounds like something Talib Kweli would've rapped on in his prime–with elegant yet playful sample deployment ultimately affirming that oldhead suspicion. Their hip-hop sensibilities also come into play on the intimately engrossing "Oh Face Killah" and the similarly downtempo absurdity "Mugsy Bogues." Like seasoned comedy writers unafraid to indulge their niche impulses, Lipp and Simon know exactly what they're doing and who they're doing it for.

DeevoDaGenius, Deevo Type III

(buy it / stream it)

Back in 2023, Massachusetts's own DeevoDaGenius dropped the first installment of his Deevo Type series. Part production showcase, part beat tape, the inaugural Deevo Type Beat and its 2025 successor Deevo Type II: The Birth Of Lefty Dangerous captured snapshots of the instrumental artist doing what he does best. On this third (and final) volume, he gives listeners an arguably fuller picture, with assists from rappers primarily, though not exclusively, repping his home state. His ANGELS WITH FILTHY SOULS collaborators from a couple months back return for "STAYLOW," with BLUEHILLBILL and Kil The Artist vigorously spitting over its rugged yet cinematic beat. Another Deevo familiar, Ea$tside $hee$h riffs from Roxbury for the scintillating "TUSCAN SEATS," while Feed The Family figure BoriRock holds it down for all the zingers on "HOOTO MAGNETO." Freely flexing his skillset behind the boards, Deevo reconstructs a metal-faced moment for Monday Night on the vertiginous "RHINESTONE SHARK" and builds Boldy James a soulful backdrop for his narco slang on "PRO BALL."

Action Figure 973 & Artificer, What Would Harley Race Do?

(buy it / stream it)

Copenhagen-based producer Artificer kicked off 2026 with Dallas rapper Nowaah The Flood on joint EP THE WALK. He continues his intercontinental endeavor with another collaborative effort, this time tag-teaming with rising Garden State hip-hop luchador Action Figure 973 for the pro-wrestling inspired What Would Harley Race Do?. The pair embrace the theme immediately, with the ominous sounding "HARLEY AND NASH DRIVING THRU THE HOOD" coming across like a pre-match promo. An enthusiastic heel, the masked rapper goes from boastful to hallucinatory via high quality boom bap cuts like "BLAME GAME" and "PUERTO RICAN PYRAMIDS," returning to the kayfabe-breaking well for "HARLEY PULLING A GUN ON HOGAN" and the jazzy title track. The sole guest here, new-ish Griselda member Brother Tom Sos sounds comfy in Artificer's piano-laden pocket on single "WWF ICE CREAM BARS." (R.I.P. War Ready.)

Three new tracks to snack on...

Codenine & THEHIDDENCHARACTER, "MEMENTOMORI"

PFG & Conductor Williams, "RED STRIPE"

Shaykh Hanif, "Nacksaw Vs Iron Shaykh (feat. Estee Nack)"