EP Review | Homeboy Sandman – Anjelitu

This extended play was released on August 6th this year. I’ve never reviewed any of his projects in the past, but Homeboy Sandman is actually one of my favorite rappers. I think every single project he’s released in the past is worth listening to. I just think he’s one of the best when it comes to effortlessly putting rhymes together. His conversational delivery style is really awesome to me as well. I think he’s got a great voice. I didn’t listen to any of the singles prior to hearing this full project, so I didn’t have any expectations. I was hoping that it’d be one of the best releases of the year though. Every song is produced by Aesop Rock.


The project begins with a major highlight entitled Go Hard.

This song is fire. Homeboy Sandman’s flow and breath control on the first verse are absolutely mesmerizing to listen to. He slaughtered this shit.

Don't follow me online
I gave energy to that bull for a long time
Every morning, I ignore warnings of all kinds
So if you're looking for the norm, you've got the wrong guy
If you're looking for a fad, you've got the wrong lad
And if you're looking for the same, you caught the wrong train
If you're looking for a hack, I'll never write back
But if you're looking for the champ, you found the right chap

I like the kind of simplistic production from Aesop Rock a lot too. Sandman is pretty much just flexing his rap skills throughout this track. He murdered this shit. Every verse is fire. I think the song is dope as hell. It’s followed by West Coast. I really like the simplistic structure of this song. Homeboy Sandman is just rapping one long verse throughout the track. I think his writing here is gorgeous.

Beneath the moon I penned the music for the village getting raided
Play while lickin shots, I'm still in shock from Ewing getting traded
While the natives toast to better days
Sippin' lemonade made from the water where I waded
Meanwhile I'll be looking down 'til all the mushroom clouds have dissipated
After that I'm looking 'round frowning at the nightmare I've created
Seemingly random as a fallen leaf
Convincing vics to cut the shit and play some chicken is like pullin' teeth

The beat on this track doesn’t stand out to me as much as some of the others, but it’s still pretty good. Honestly, I feel like this song contains one of the best performances from Sandman on the project. His breath control and flow are fucking crazy on this track.

I moved ahead from being on another level
'Bout to brush up on the steps I use for dancing with the devil
'Bout to go and cop some Alka-seltzer tablets for the seagulls
'Bout to sneak into a thousand different movies at The Regal
All the while I win entire tournaments without no cornermen
As soon as that gets boring then I'm born again
I'm speaking for the people that just wanna light a match, and watch it burn
Who always peek at hide and seek and hardly speak except for speaking out of turn

He slaughtered this track. I think it’s dope as hell. FYI features one of my favorite beats on the whole project. I think the hook is kinda weak on this track, but the production along with Homeboy Sandman’s stellar writing on the verses makes the song worth returning to for me.

Storm border with a gift to cause chaos
Pre-school corner, I’m the one that ate crayons
My team ain’t make it to the play-offs
Luckily my demons always make it to the seance

The hook isn’t terrible or anything, but it’s just really simplistic. I think the song is dope overall though. It’s followed by a track called Cow’s Milk. This is the most fast-paced track on the project. I think the beat is cool, and Homeboy Sandman flowed over it beautifully. Once again, the hook is super simplistic, but it’s kind of humorous, so I like it anyway.

And I drink cow's milk
Milk from cows
I know I'm not like a baby cow in any way
I drink cow's milk anyway

The song just stands out since it’s so fast. Homeboy Sandman of course raps with a really laid back, conversational flow, but he still spits really fast to match the production. It’s pretty awesome stuff. I think the song is dope. The penultimate track is entitled No Beef, and it has a really awesome beat. I love how weird and bouncy it sounds. The whole song is about how beef is excluded from Homeboy Sandman’s diet.

You can keep that beef, keep that flesh
Keep that meat, keep that death
I don't care how many hours it's been since I've been fed
I don't care if it's organic or if it's grass-fed
I had to give it up, it messes with my stomach
It messes with my gut, it messes with my gullet
It’s bad for the entirety of my internal constitution
Plus it’s said that the cow farts are terrible pollution

The first verse is really dope. The hook is nothing special, but it serves its purpose well enough. The second verse gets pretty woke, and the third verse is great as well.

There is so much evidence
That beef has contributed to the prevalence
Of the epidemic of chronic disease
Wanna murder your dreams? Have a burger and cheese

The song makes me wanna eat a veggie burger. I think it’s dope as hell. The final track is called Lice Team, Baby, and it features a vocal appearance from the one and only Aesop Rock. I actually can’t decide who had the better verse on this track. I think Aesop Rock’s flow was a bit more precise. They both murdered this shit though. I think Aesop’s production is really goddamn cool too. It makes the song sound very eventful. The song is dope as hell overall.


This EP is dope as hell. There’s not a single track that I don’t like. Aesop Rock’s production has really improved a lot over the past decade, and Homeboy Sandman is still one of the best active Hip Hop artists out right now. The dude’s flow is effortlessly smooth, and his quirky sense of humor just really resonates with me. I honestly think this is one of the more consistent projects in his discography, and I would definitely say it’s the best thing he’s released since joining Mello Music Group. If you’re new to Homeboy Sandman’s music, I’d say this is a pretty good starting point, and fans will definitely love it. I hope Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman never stop working together because they’re an amazing duo. This shit is fire. Don’t sleep on it.

Favorite Song: Lice Team, Baby
Least Favorite Song: FYI

86

Grade: A-
Advertisement

Tell me if I'm trippin'

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s