This is no comeback. Unlike so many other Old Head Albums we’ve been reviewing here at Real Yeti Rap, both Supastition and RJD2 have been back on the map for one long minute now.
It would be unfair to say RJD2 ever left, he’s just been quietly independent since 2010, especially in contrast to his Def Jux era overexposure. He dropped some strong material that decade, but 2020’s The Fun Ones really stood out, an urgent return to his roots. Supastition has been on a slow burn comeback since 2015 or so, but 2023’s Every Last Word EP is where it all snapped back into focus. He reminded the world who he was: one of the best emcees in America.
If Supastition has nothing to prove at this point, it sure as shit sounds like nobody told him. The hunger he’s bringing to the table here is intense but never overwrought. Frustrated, grateful, hungry, satisfied, this dude is a tangle of contradictions and that makes for some great writing. It also makes for one of his funniest albums ever, which is the biggest surprise here. Supastition has always brought the ill quotables but this time he’s got a ton of hilarious punchlines, too.
Opener “Back Talk” evokes … well, a Def Jux era Tame One, which is some unexpected shit. A jeremiad about authenticity & skills, it’s a timeless lament about fast food rap music over a speaker-pusher rock banger. The drop into the laid-back soul of “One Last Time” is a killer switch and if anything, the man is rapping even harder on the second track. His pockets are math rock jazz scat, but his delivery is pure Rakim cool. The beat is also quite choice!
RJD2 continues to impress. His drum programming has grown increasingly distinctive over the past decade, amassing a personal library of broken kicks, snares and percussive touches. His real edge has always been his ear, though. Everything here is layered & lush stereophonics, but it’s the urgent, upbeat swing of all his drums that makes for such a unique ride in the Griselda, lo-fi, hyperpop era. This is music for house parties where people dance. Those still exist.
I wasn’t feeling “Machines Like Us” when I first heard it as a single but it would kill a room live, no question. The beat smacks, the verses connect with the current moment in our Great American Decline, and it’s a smartly structured song, besides. My indifference is only notable because this is the only time that happened over the course of a twelve track LP.
I have favorites, of course, but after a week of intermittent spins, I’m most impressed by how nicely the tracklist flattens out into a proper album. The sequencing is natural, the mixing is surprisingly intricate, and everything belongs. They nailed this one, start to finish.
To my tastes, “Wins & Losses” and “Rent Money” are tied for first, but the craziest moment on the album is non-disputable: “Beasts Per Minute” is the kind of performance that very few rappers alive are capable of, an upbeat workout over a constantly shifting breakbeat. Then they have audacity to do a Coachella-sized drop into some actual Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin cinematic drum & bass. They are just plain showing off, but it works because they’re both crazy dope.
In a nod to his Cackalack roots, closing song “A Beautiful Ending” is a heavy R&B ballad about death & loss. Those can often be awkward but he delivered a powerful eulogy here, earnest without cliches, blunt without cynicism. It’s a powerful track that grounds all of the shit-talking and jokes in something humble, timeless & real.
According To… is a world-class performance over a twelve course meal of gourmet beats. This is precisely the kind of consistent, diverse, well-rounded album that fans & critics are forever begging great rappers to make. Supastition is staking a big claim here. What he does next will determine how all that goes, but this joint will abide forever. I believe this is destined to become a celebrated cult classic, at least in certain circles & record collections. Five Dickies.
“My pockets ain’t gotta be Hova, at least Black Thought!”