Spiral Staircases Sometimes

Much was made of 2 Chainz's return to record label independence around last year's Life Is Beautiful. A trio effort with Larry June and The Alchemist, the post-Def Jam album reinvigorated the Georgia native with a coastal California breeze courtesy of the other two, whose own joint full-length The Great Escape from 2023 was still fairly fresh in fans' minds.

Yet by centering the artist formerly known as Tity Boi, that narrative inadvertently diminished June's involvement on Life Is Beautiful. After a brief stint with Warner in the mid-2010s, he'd established himself as a laidback lifestyle rapper who leisurely delivers Bay Area bars. And while he's consistently, categorically great in that rather specific lane, with a clearly defined personal brand marked by both health and wealth, it often leads listeners to underestimate him. So placing him opposite a spotlit punchline fiend like 2 Chainz didn't exactly help matters, despite how remarkably well he jibes with Alchemist beats.

For those who've discounted or misjudged June, Spiral Staircases possesses the power to potentially change some pre-set minds. Swapping out 2 Chainz for NOLA's stoner rap mainstay Curren$y, while maintaining The Alchemist's spot behind the boards, the seven-track effort realigns the roles to something closer to The Great Escape. (Some might be surprised to see the Jet Life CEO back in the ALC fold, considering Freddie Gibbs' disparaging lines about the erstwhile 504 Boy on Alfredo 2 highlight "Gas Station Sushi." They shouldn't be.) Favoring an easygoing methodology, both vocalists couchlock into a confident thematic pocket that's trades Most Expensivest extravagance for quiet luxury.

The concept of quiet luxury counters hip-hop's lengthy history of conspicuous profligacy. After decades of excessive namedropping and ostentatious displays, a small but growing cabal of rappers are choosing a relatively more muted route to convey their status, a subtle power move defined by understated gestures and premium understatements. In a recent Apple Music convo with Ebro Darden, Roc Marciano spoke on this way of living with likeminded cohort Errol Holden at his side. Sometimes, it's the smaller touches of class–Plain Jane vs. bust down, for instance–that signal to people that you've got taste as well as money.

Larry June has been a proponent of quiet luxury before that term broke big in and beyond the fashion and lifestyle lexicon. Like Marciano, he vividly remembers the Pyrex weight and is known to memorialize those days in lyrics with a past-tense emphasis. Yet June's focus is mostly fixed on the present-day, a lifestyle marked by better choices, desirable outcomes, and plenty of fresh squeezed orange juice. On Spiral Staircases single "Everything Allocated," he spits about success on his own terms, pondering a seasonal stretch in Paris, contemplating the lucrative aims of his elite clientele convos, and paying for shit in cash. He's wearing covetable vintage in the Wynn Las Vegas' Tower Suites on opener "Stars On The Roof" and exuding Gucci gratitude in a Ferrari SF90 on "Palo Santo."

Comparatively, Curren$y leans more heavily on luxury brand recognition in his rhymes, evident on "Drive Alone" and the victory lapping title track. Yet it's critical to remember that he's a rapper who helped to pave the particular lane he's cruising down, introducing countless listeners to aspirational vehicular ownership of Chevrolet Corvette Z06s, Ferrari F355 Berlinettas, Mercedes-AMGs, and Porsche Spyders–to name a few.

But the best and clearest distinction between his and June's approaches comes on the closing "Empty Pages," where the two bookend a fresh Alchemist verse with their own. Curren$y kicks if off with casino metaphors and well-kept paramours, with Al laughing his way to the bank in a high quality wool sweater, brand undeclared. June, however, pivots towards domesticity here, spending his album-ending moments at home enjoying the amenities he's earned–touchscreen laundry machines, crisp white robes, waterfront property. It's the way he chooses not to flaunt that sets him apart, stepping away at the end with restraint and finality:

Valuing my privacy, killin' them with honesty
Killing shit silently
Modestly, I do this shit gracefully
Probably not one of them dudes you wanna play with

Chris Crack, Too Late To Start Following The Rules Now

(buy it / stream it)

Hip-hop provocateur Chris Crack has been spewing brash, clever bars for well over a decade with unconventionally titled projects like Time Travelers Keep Tryna Kill Me. Returning to Fool's Gold, home to 2021's solid Might Delete Later, he locks in with producers like Madlib and Hudson Mohawke for the outstanding Too Late To Start Following The Rules Now. Self-identifying as an R&B thug (IYKYK) on the sonically silken "Hurt Feelings Over Wasted Time," he brings that trademark audacity to melodically inclined cuts "I Support Women's Rights & Wrongs" and "Thought I Went With Raven Simone In 4th Grade." In other spots he's decidedly more bellicose and animated, his outsized personality punching through the lunchtable-ready banger "My 2022 Girlfriend Was A Humiliation Ritual." Yet he can still share something as raw and personal as "My Brother Knew the Real Angelo Roberts," a reminder that his standoffishness and quick wit are products of his reality. The guest list here is small but significant, with Bruiser Wolf stacking entendres like paper on the media-biased "Somebody Pinched My Ass When I Crowdsurfed" and Disturbing Tha Peace vet Shawnna revels in her earned rasp on "Don't Wear Your PFP Outfit On The First Link."

Deevodagenius, Kil The Artist & BLUEHILLBILL, ANGELS WITH FILTHY SOULS

(buy it / stream it)

Proving their initial, Blaxploitation-inspired project BLEU MAGIC was no fluke, this Massachusetts trio stick to the cinematic on ANGELS WITH FILTHY SOULS. Though their title is a bit of a red herring–nodding to a Cagney-informed old timey gangster film-within-a-film used as Home Alone plot device–Lowell-based producer DeevoDaGenius and Bay State rappers BLUEHILLBILL and Kil The Artist use it as a jumping off point for their more modern subject matter. Verses get traded hand-to-hand on "CHICAGO TYPEWRITER" and "FILTHY ANIMALS," both tracks musically drawing upon seemingly ancient movie scores. Their evident collective chemistry comes through strongest on the piano-laden "DIRTY FACES" and the tremulous soul-purging closer "DEVIL IN PRADA." As if two street savvy emcees weren't enough, Conway The Machine and Al.Divino drop dazzling features for "QUARTER ZIP" and "CHARLIE BROWN," respectively.

Three new tracks to snack on...

Young Chris & MadeinTYO, "Fine Wine & Steak"

Michael Christmas & Grimm Doza, "Federal Digital"

TRAPMAT SAVIOR & Nicholas Craven, "Brunch"