It’s been a minute since I last covered Hank Dope! I last covered his ‘Dopamine’ EP and since then he’s been on my radar as one of the rawest artists out, and he’s back with another addition to his ever-growing discography! So let’s talk about it!
So, new Hank Dope album featuring seven new tracks and twelve minutes of content with the rapper Outti as the only other MC assigned to three of the tracks on the project!
As per usual, no matter how short or long the album is, Hank always chooses the most muddy, theatrical, and cinematic music for his raps. We are talking the perfect blend of gritty, orchestral, immersive, rough, and beautifully crafted sounds in the game today.
In this twelve minutes, you have moments like ‘Mia Wallace’, which features those stunning choir-like vocal harmonies that give your body goosebumps accompanied by those synth chords subtly playing in the background!
Or even the track ‘Elixir’, which features foreign almost dessert-themed instruments with sounds you’d expect to hear from the movie ‘The Mummy’, with those eerie male chanting vocals mixed in with that traditional boom Bap beat!
The point is, with every Hank drop, you can expect these levels of surreal and atmospheric sounds that elevate the usual ‘boom Bap’ sound with larger beats and more powerful emphasis on the instruments and voice samples to give a more definitive and grand experience than you commonly use, which is also why Hank’s releases are so anticipated!
Now onto the man himself. If his production choices are cinematic, it’s a reflection of Hank and the storyteller that he is. He’s a street poet, who’s equally street and smart. He’s the furious styles of the underground. He’s the one to teach you wisdom but will equally bloody his Jordans if you try to step to him!
He has a strong sense of self. A killer energy, and dominant lyricism and lethal pen game that can rival the best of them! When he spits, he commands the room to take notice, and they do! What elevates this record further is the use of the feature MC ‘Outti’. They really hit off with their perfect chemistry and paired aggressive nature on the tracks!
This is the kind of synchronicity you’d want out of a duo. A pair that can match the others’ energy, passion, and ruthlessness on the songs, and considering he’s on three of them, it definitely makes for a compelling listen for each song he’s on!
Overall, for 12 minutes? This shit fucking goes HARD. Incredible production topped with even better rapping by both men involved! Definitely don’t want to sleep on this!
https://open.spotify.com/album/0uZyqTztIfiCBcza5ooZol?si=w-LkbRQJSHuZL3NTdE5otg
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