Note: Patreon supporters received access to this review on July 29th, 2024.

This album was released on May 10th this year. Sleep Sinatra released my album of the year for 2023, and he’s become one of my favorite rappers of all time since I started keeping up with his releases in 2020. When Sleep was promoting this album, there was a lot of discussion about this being his most avant-garde release yet. Unless I’m mistaken, I think this was my first time hearing a project with production from bloomcycle, A.K.A. Big Flowers. However, I have definitely heard beats that they have posted snippets of on social media before, and they’re honestly always fire. I had only heard a few though, so I still didn’t really know what to expect until I heard the EP of B-sides called YoolaG’z, which was flames. Since I thought that EP was so dope, I was basically expecting this to be another one of my favorite Sleep Sinatra albums, and that’s pretty much exactly what ended up being the case.

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The album begins with Reincarnation. Aside from a couple exceptions, most of the tracks on this album are pretty brief, and this one in particular is one of the shortest. I really like this one, but I guess it just took a while for me to warm up to it as an intro. I think I was expecting something different for the opening track. “Different” in terms of maybe the tempo or at least the energy level. The beat, while very great, is the type of thing I would expect to hear on an interlude, so it was cool to hear Sleep actually rap over something like that. As far as Sleep Sinatra’s actual performance on the mic goes, it should come as no surprise that I love this shit. I am starting to wonder if Sleep is capable of doing anything that I think is wack. It’s getting to the point where I’m wondering why every other rap fan I know is not freaking the fuck out over this dude. He’s really my favorite rapper right now. The dude already gives me pretty much everything I love in an MC, and he just keeps getting better. I’ve realized that a big part of it is the voice. He just sounds so good when he raps to me. I think when I first started listening to him, the one thing I felt the need to make note of was the fact that he actually had interesting shit to say, and he wasn’t saying the same shit as everyone else. That was all the way back when I checked out Sleeper Effect, and that aspect of his music hasn’t changed a bit. One thing that did stand out to me on my first listen of this album when I heard this song was how perfect the mix on Sleep’s voice sounds. It sounds pristine. Televangel handled the mixing and mastering on this project, and did a really stellar job. I couldn’t have asked for better mixing here. Even when Sleep’s mixing is intentionally a little off-kilter, it never bothers me. In fact, I always think it sounds good. I had a conversation with a friend recently about the vocal mixing on Blood in My Eye. If you compare the way Sleep’s voice sounds on that song and Reincarnation, the difference is night and day. I think it sounds cool as fuck on Blood in My Eye, and it actually adds to my enjoyment of the music, but I know some people don’t feel the same way. I don’t think anyone will have an issue with the way the vocals are sounding here though. It sounds like he’s rapping in front of me. Anyway, I feel like I should cut to the chase; as soon as Sleep started spitting, I was on the edge of my seat listening closely to each and every line.

Survival been imperative to belief
I been buildin' up tools, even my therapist a G
The narrative's complete, it's terror when I seen the future clean
Foresight in the sense of your mind's eye, unique

He always finds a way to slip in at least one line in a verse that really makes me think. It doesn’t even have to be deep when I say he makes me think. I just mean he creates activity in my brain. There are certain MCs who will spit something and it has zero effect on me because I just do not care about what they have to say. With Sleep it’s like every line gives me something to chew on. I really love the way the verse on this track ends.

I'm destined for more
Devil try to take it all, now I'm settlin' scores
Essence restored, the message is you've been here before

It’s one of those situations where I just wanna pause the music and think about certain lines I just heard in the context of my own life. That last line in particular really just makes me think. I guess it’s a very spiritual line of thinking that a line like that evokes, so that’s kinda where it took me. Another line that stood out to me was the following…

They stay stagnant, I'm takin' my plays and makin' kills
Bring home what I eat, and proceed to try and heal
Jaded by my belief, been grief-stricken at will

During my first year at my current university, I became friends with a musician who introduced to me this idea of certain artists sounding “bruised” in their music. I believe I have a slightly different understanding of the concept from what he was trying to instill, but it basically boils down to a sense of perseverance that you get from some people. Some artists have endured especially turbulent circumstances, and they may not have come out unscathed, but they survived, and it’s reflected in the music. I think my friend was referring more to a particular sound, but for me it’s easier to recognize something like that from a lyrical standpoint. That’s what I thought of when I heard these lines. Anyway, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this track as an intro to the rest of the album at first. As far as structure goes, this song is incredibly straightforward. It’s a beat and a verse. However, the beat and verse in question are far from basic. There’s a lot going on here. I’ve been trying to think of a way to describe bloomcycle’s production, and I think the term that came to mind was “unconventionally attractive.” Basically what I’m trying to say is that it’s fire, and there’s not a lot of stuff that sounds like it. It’s a really fucking cool vibe honestly. I love it. It really grew on me as I became more acclimated to the project. I always liked it, but now I’d consider it a highlight on the album. I think it’s dope as hell. It’s followed by another highlight called Memoriam, Pt. 1. Reincarnation was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unique, eccentric production on this album. This beat is somehow even more peculiar and intriguing. I really love it to be honest. It sounds cool as shit. At certain moments throughout the track there’s this relatively high-pitched, melodic sound that kind of uncovers itself. I think it might be a synth. If everything sounded like music, it’s what a lightsaber being unsheathed would sound like. I don’t know if that’ll make sense to anyone aside from me, but I’m sticking with it. This is honestly one of my favorite beats on the album. The song is only 70 seconds long, and it’s the shortest track on the project. On my first listen of the album, it was basically over before I even had time to form a concrete opinion. I was just like, “woah, what is happening?” and then the next track started. It’s definitely a song that makes you wanna hit the rewind button. The first thing that stood out to me about Sleep’s performance here was his flow. That might be another reason why I love his music so much; it never feels like he’s recycling a cadence. He always switches it up. I’ve listened to certain artists where it seems like they are only capable of one flow, and it’s not necessarily a fatal flaw, but sometimes stuff like that decreases my longevity as a hardcore fan because I get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. Anyway, I’m kinda rambling now. The point is, his flow is dope on this track.

Peeped your bluff
No absolution when you speak corrupt
So if you goin' through it, gotta keep it up
Livin' life by the grooves in the wax when the needle touch

The bars just get crazier as the song progresses. I probably should’ve mentioned this earlier, but the official Bandcamp blurb describes this project as “an album meant to explore the cycle of identity, death, and rebirth as we carry on through time.” That one sentence framed my understanding of the record. It kinda guided me in what to expect and take note of lyrically.

Pourin' my truth over ice, exploring the hidden cuts
Past trauma, had to dig it up, so I could move on, can't get enough
Too prolonged, hearing ghost songs, so I wrote them down when I awoke
Blacked out at a wake at about 8, losing my mother's touch

Sleep is another one of those dudes who’s able to pack so much into one line. I can’t get this much enjoyment in 70 seconds out of just any rapper. There’s something very precise about this song and album in particular. Going back to the Bandcamp description, it refers to the album as “dense with intention,” and that’s something that I definitely picked up on. This album was worked on for a long time before it was finally released, and I could tell. It just sounds like it was meticulously crafted despite having an at times chaotic soundscape. This is the perfect example of an album that takes multiple listens to fully digest and process. I couldn’t make sense of this track after hearing it once. It’s too much to take in on just one listen. I mean, I knew I fucked with it, but I didn’t know why. It’s fire though. I think it’s dope as hell. Track 3 is called Forensics. I love it. The beat here is so good. It’s jazzy, intricate, and detailed. This is gonna sound like another completely random thought, but I pictured a bed of nails in my head when I heard this. I guess sometimes I perceive instrumentals like Rorschach tests. That happened a lot with this album. This beat in particular sounds kind of hypnotizing. I love it. Sleep’s lyricism is of course fire as always. It just gets better and better, man. As soon as I heard the first couplet, I already knew this was gonna be fire.

Inner dialogues spillin' out
From the dark side of the mud where no feelings sprout

The verse is so fucking good, and the off-kilter, jazzy instrumental is the perfect backdrop. I love it. It’s followed by Origins, which features SKECH185 & PremRock. I think this is one of the most important moments on the album, and definitely a standout collaboration for 2024. This shit is amazing. It was during this track that I realized of what the off-kilter, yet melodic production on this album reminds me. At first I was just thinking “video game soundtrack,” but I realized the particular game I was envisioning was Earthbound specifically. Something about the instrumentals sound like they have this innocence to them. They basically communicate a whole story to me. This beat in particular sounds kind of whimsical, yet incredibly sad at the same time. I can picture myself standing on a hilltop listening to the instrumental with tears streaming down my face as I reflect on past trauma. It’s the perfect beat for lamentation. It sounds like barely holding onto innocence in the face of devastation. The lyricism explored here reinforces that vibe for me too. The title, Origins, is another aspect that kinda framed my understanding of this song. I feel like Sleep really went in about what influenced him to become the person he is today. They all did.

Reflections of a lifetime's rhythm
Through crime I analyze pain and intuition
Took pen' chances and I started penning visions
Prophetic how the profit built up consistent
But still gotta go and get it
Upholding the pictures of reality through broken lenses
I was a knotty headed street kid, a codefendant
Just tryna tell you how it goes, son, I hope you listen

I love the verse, and the way SKECH185 comes in right behind him is awesome. I love the way it ends too.

Autumn '93, a van was pickin' up little black girls on the way home
My older sister was given a knife as a keepsake
Because she was pretty for a darkskinned girl
Let the vultures tell it
Just because it once was doesn't mean it has to keep with the culture

His verse is incredible, but what’s crazy is that perhaps the most impactful part of the whole song is just when he’s talking over the beat about something he encountered.

See, some friends of mine were doing this podcast, and one cat was just talking about how he always knew older guys who’d mess with young women, and like how that was cool, and everybody was going, “just ’cause you knew it happening, doesn’t mean we keep it happening, and just because you saw it doesn’t mean it was okay,” and he kept just going, “…but, people used to do that.”

I feel like part of what makes this hit so hard for me is that it’s completely believable. That sounds exactly like a real conversation that I would expect to hear on a podcast, and it’s something that would probably stir some strange emotions in me. I don’t even know how to approach that conversation without help from someone to formulate my thoughts, so I’m just gonna leave it alone. I did want to make sure I noted it in this review though because it’s fascinating to me. I know I said it was the most memorable part of the song for me, but to be honest PremRock might’ve had the best verse. He absolutely slaughtered this shit. His writing is incredible here, man. The last four bars are just devastating. It’s amazing. Again, this is one of the best collaborations of the year for sure. I actually don’t think I could’ve asked for a better outcome with everyone involved. It’s dope as fuck. The following track is called Choice Theory. The beat on this one sounds a lot less melancholic than that of the preceding track in my opinion. It has kind of a warm, comforting atmosphere to it. It makes me think of maternal love. It sounds like a soft, pink blanket. Sleep’s performance over it is of course fantastic. I love every line, but I especially love the way the verse ends. I’ve never really tripped on psychedelics, but I have kind of a fascination with it, so it’s always an interesting subject in rap for me.

The world is what you make it, I engaged in the dangerous
Found solace in the sacred, worth is innovation
Slow it down with patience, overviewing creation
Realized the power inside was understated
Munchin' 8ths and seein' a new paradigm
For every pinnacle I'm grabbing gear to be prepared to climb
Highest peaks, mind release, and I'm still alive
Tried to bury me deep, the peace is what I'm here to find

Sleep’s writing is just… Well, it’s probably clear how I feel by now. Needless to say, I love this shit. One other thing I wanna make sure I mention is that I really loved the additional percussion that came in after about 30 seconds. It’s a subtle detail that didn’t even register on my first listen, but it really adds a lot to the song in my opinion. It’s fire overall. The following track is another one of the most memorable moments on the album for me. It’s called Cut Weight, and it features Milc. The instrumental on this one kinda blew my fuckin’ mind when I heard it. This was me when it came on…

This beat is seriously insane to me. I still kinda don’t know how bloomcycle made this work. The first Teller Bank$ album I ever heard was called The Grotesque & Beautiful, and that title really stuck with me. That’s kinda how I feel about this instrumental. It’s like a lighthearted, friendly, inviting sound that has been looped into kind of an ominous atmosphere. It’s like when you see a creepy animatronic or a clown or maybe an old white van with a suspiciously friendly middle aged man as its owner. It gives you the impression that it’s trying to lure you in so that it can destroy you. On the surface it sounds cheerful and fun, but upon further inspection it becomes eerie as fuck. Kinda like the music video for Ain’t It Funny by Danny Brown. It does sound a little Vaporwave-adjacent to me. I typically don’t like Vaporwave that much, but this is too crazy for me to not love. Anyway, the first verse from Milc is really nice. I like the way he rhymed here a lot. The way the instrumental kinda transforms for Sleep’s part of the song is really cool too. This is the one track where I really would love to know what the creation process was like. I’m wondering whether or not the instrumental sounded like it does now when the verses were initially written and performed, and I’d also be curious to know who laid their verse first. This song is crazy. It’s maybe the craziest moment on the whole album to me. It’s just insane. Bonkers. I love it. Anyway, it’s followed by another major highlight called Lucy.

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This song contains what is perhaps the most traditional-sounding instrumental on the record. It sounds like a journey in the form of music, or the soundtrack to a journey rather. In fact, one of my main conclusions from this album is that bloomcycle would be excellent at making film soundtracks. I guess it doesn’t have to be a film. It could be any story. Anyway, there’s a lot of emotion packed into this beat. It sounds kinda dreamy. It makes me feel like I’m flying through the night sky, above the clouds gliding past stars. I feel like Sleep was able to match the tone of the production really well too. I also like how he kinda waited for a while and let the instrumental play a little bit before he started rhyming over it.

Only seen my uncle cry twice, but he laughed a lot
How we circumvent pain for the active plot
Refuse the heart for the gains 'til the path is blocked
Now every relation strained from the baggage brought

I don’t know if I said this already, but this is one of my favorites on the album. I love everything about it. Track 8 is called Exhaust, and it actually features a verse from Big Flowers. Once again, the production here kinda sounds like the soundtrack to a journey. This instrumental sounds like something that would play specifically at the outset of the story. I love it. The opening verse from Sleep is of course excellent.

Frequencies unmeasured, a wave setter
Every creation is straight embers
Ain't it funny how ventin' the pain can bring pleasure?
I'm accepting my gains, work my lane 'til it's weathered
Through the obstacles came many ways to make it clever
Stayin' sharp had to sever off all the weaker parts
Yet still keep my heart even when them demons dart
Rollin' up to ease it, find meaning in the deepest dark
This all subjective, portraits of the self throughout your essence
Time skips when the pen moves reflective

I really like the hook, and the verse from Big Flowers definitely grew on me as I spent time with the record. One thing that I always loved is the way their verse starts though. The way they come in just sounds so cool. The flow didn’t immediately grab me, but once I caught on to how beautiful the writing is I grew to enjoy it.

Flowers gon' wither at the grave if we immortal or not
Yeah, so I'm forgoing the plot
I'm forgiving it all, I'm not forsaken with my god
Told my mama I'm locked in even though my memory's shot
I be clocked in so much, it's like the memory lost

It’s a really nice verse. I fuck with the song. It’s followed by All This Grief, which features Old Grape God. This is another track that stands out, mostly due to the production style. The beat here is a lot spookier than pretty much anything else on the album. The opening verse from Old Grape God is pretty cool; I really appreciate how expressive his voice sounds.

I ain't finna waste my time or yours
I'm here to get you open, every last pore
Tryna shake you to your motherfuckin' core

Sleep of course sounds amazing over this instrumental. I love how dark he got with the lyricism here.

Ghosts haunt the speakers, seen the ether when I'm rockin'
Sink deeper, life a stone cold teacher, it stuns me often
You're still remaining strong, no other options
Flowers at the gravesite will tell you if the love's forgotten

It’s a fire verse. This song didn’t blow me away like most of the others, but I obviously still really enjoyed it. It’s dope. Track 10 is called Soul in a Box, and it was originally featured on the YoolaG’z EP of B-sides.

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This is another one that grew on me immensely with repeated listens. I love the vibe of this beat. It sounds like the daze you enter when you finally take a giant bong rip of some indica after a long tolerance break. It’s a really pretty beat. It sounds just as pretty as Big Flowers’ visual art.

I saw a single feather fall
My interpretation is to rise above even through the pain
Been findin' graces, align amazement with perfect timing
Divine in places, I've nurtured grinding
I'm wide awake, Sleep been further climbing
Defining strength through the words I'm rhyming
Know that I'ma hold the weight 'til the Earth inclining

The hook on this track is dope too. I think the reason this one had to grow on me is that it feels very slow compared to a lot of the other tracks, so it felt like a bit of a sonic lull at first. I grew to appreciate it as I listened more closely though. It’s a really dope song. EvP Battles has a very entrancing beat to me, and it features an artist named Yo OG with whom I was previously unfamiliar. To be honest, I think my favorite moment in the whole track is just the transition between Sleep & OG’s verses. The instrumental drops out and we’re just left with the echo of the transitional sample before the beat comes back in and OG starts rapping. It sounds cool as hell. I of course enjoyed Sleep’s performance, but I was particularly curious about this Yo OG person. I had never heard of them, and their name seemed cool. I tend to prefer stage names that are more googleable, but that name in particular for whatever reason benefits from the simplicity in my opinion. Thankfully, I ended up really enjoying his verse.

I had knowledge and wisdom, but no understanding of what's going on, so I'm still wondering how I got here
I just got this strange feeling
It's familiar, but I'm not really fond of it, but I for damn sure be following
Voices upstairs in the crib yellin' out the door, makin' me conjure these thoughts and feelings
Sometimes I'm not privy to the force
Spit a sound into the atmosphere and hope it's universal
And at the end of the day, the reality is I gotta get this bread
And ain't nothing guaranteed, but there's marbles spinnin' in my head while we in the funk of it
'Cause we all God in this

It’s definitely the kind of verse that I had to run back multiple times to fully appreciate. I see that he was featured on an episode of Reel Notes with Cinemasai, so I’ll definitely be checking that out for more info about him. Overall, the song is dope as hell. Track 3 is Memoriam, Pt. 2, and it features another artist with whom I was previously unfamiliar named desde. For this track we return to the exact same beat that was used on part one, which I feel like is a ballsy move. Something about using the same beat on two tracks on the same album seems risky. I mean, they are kinda two parts of the same song, but still. I think it was a bold move, and it paid off. Sleep killed the first verse.

I'm still worth all my weight in gold
I just need a shine and a patient soul
With some peace of mind, I could take control
Better free my mind before it takes its toll

The second verse from desde is pretty cool. I wasn’t crazy about her vocal delivery, but I dug the lyricism a lot, and I can get behind the flow. Sonically, she actually reminded me of Jessica Care Moore’s intro and outro on Nastradamus. That album is a notorious dud, but I actually always loved Jessica Care Moore’s parts on there personally, so I meant that comparison as a compliment. Overall, this is a really dope track. The penultimate song is a major highlight called Killing Time.

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I guess this one has another relatively traditional-sounding instrumental. I love it. It’s perhaps the prettiest beat on the whole project. It’s the type of thing that I would enjoy even if there was no rapping over it. It just sounds really heavenly. Through the process of writing about each track on this album, I came to appreciate the sequencing even more. This sound really works well for the last leg of the album. I’ve mentioned the production sounding like a journey or story throughout this review. This particular one sounds like what would play after the main conflict is resolved. The way the percussion comes in after about 30 seconds is so awesome. Sleep of course killed the verse.

Even in times so bleak I keep building
Got children to teach and grief to reach the ceiling
Dutch master spillin', the path makin' an incline
Sleep ain't even reachin' his peak, and yet he still shine
Goin' 'cause he don't feel emotions when it's kill time

The song’s pretty brief, but I actually think that works to its benefit. Not that it would’ve gotten stale if it was extended a bit, but it just really hits you hard and then moves on, and I kinda fuck with that. The song’s amazing. However, I think my favorite song on the whole album is the closing track, Tombs. This song might have the best instrumental I’ve heard in 2024. This beat is fucking incredible. That vocal sample is so fucking beautiful, man. This is lowkey one of the most beautifully haunting beats I think I’ve ever heard. It sounds like my own ghost singing to me. I love it. The best thing about it is that the momentum just builds and builds the more the loop plays. It’s really entrancing, and it makes me wanna move. I always catch myself swaying to the music when it comes on. Needless to say, I loved the first verse from Sleep on this song.

Stopped passing down the trauma through realizing what's wrong
My mind in a song, my soul barren, it's been gettin' fire drawn
Heart beatin' on my sleeve, bleedin', just leadin' me along
Chiefin' 'til I'm bombed through seasons findin' meanin' in the flaw
Disrupted by life frequent, at war through peace and I'm calm
No reason for qualms, we'll all end up underneath the lawn
Whether you king fish or a prawn, no lines is gettin' drawn
Gotta let it grow, that's how the doe survives from the fawn

The second verse is performed by shemar, to whom I was first introduced when he produced Sunmundi’s amazing Nature of My Nature EP. He’s definitely one of the most exciting artists that I’ve discovered in the past 12 months. The transition between the two verses is phenomenal, and I loved shemar’s performance.

Death ain't an end no more, I ain't scared
Stitchin' first name transmutations, inheriting shadow birthright
Was never about individual tangibles, I'm livin'
What needs explanation ain't my responsibility
Catharsis not a solution to wounds, but we still embrace
With a salient taste of repetition
Lockin' eyes with an old flame
With the sun coursin' through my veins, it's nothin'
I feel nothin', but thanks

I think it was probably very intentional that this is the last verse on the whole album, and I think it wraps things up really nicely. The way the instrumental kinda gets muffled for the last part of the song sounds amazing too. This song just sounds so incredible to me. It’s like bloomcycle somehow communicated the sense of passing away and entering heaven with an instrumental. The shit is unbelievable.

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^{This album is amazing. I’m not surprised. I knew I was gonna love this shit. It gave me exactly what I wanted, and I don’t even think I knew I wanted it until I heard it. This is absolutely one of the best albums of the year, and one of the best albums Sleep has ever made. It’s definitely top 5. Probably top 3. I kinda don’t even know where to begin with summing up all my thoughts. I guess I should start with bloomcycle. They did an amazing job here. These beats are unbelievably cool. There’s really not a single instrumental on here that I don’t really enjoy. Literally every single one of them stood out in some fashion. As you could probably tell from a lot of the things I had to say in the body of this review, the production really sparked my imagination, which is always cool. I think there probably aren’t many artists I’ve covered more than Sleep in the past four years, so there’s not much I can say about him in general that I haven’t said before. His performance on this album in particular really moved me though, and a lot of it is due to the subject matter. I personally just find the lyrical themes of death and rebirth really interesting. The concept of rebirth is something I’ve been interested in for a while now because of a conversation I had with my friend. I told him about how I used to be really different, but I kinda became a new and improved person after my psychotic episode in 2018. He sent me a text that said something along the lines of “i been thinkin about how u said you were different before psychosis. you were reborn. ill explain later.” Ever since I got that text, I’ve been kinda fascinated by the concept. As a result, this album here ended up really resonating with me. I have no consistent gripes. The beats are amazing, the rapping is phenomenal, the features are a lot of fun, and even the sequencing is thought out and well crafted. Sleep is really an albums artist, man. He knows what he’s doing. This shit is dope as fuck. Check it out.}

Favorite Song: Tombs
LEast Favorite Song: All This Grief

90

Watch the video below for some additional perspectives on the album.