(WIZARDZ)

After covering their last EP, that’s when I first saw the hype built for this project! Ever since covering this man, I have to say I’ve been thoroughly impressed. And it seems in recent months he’s gravitated more and more towards a certain producer who has been making waves in his own right!

So with that in mind, let’s get talking about a project that features two men I fuck with heavily!

This is the brand-new album by MC AU & DJ KROOKED and produced by DJ KROOKED with features from 

-REDHANDS (Producer)

-ANT KELLY

With these two names on board, they’re out the gate running! 

One thing I’ve noticed (from both of them) is how they’ve come into their own over the years. When I discovered both of them, I would have sworn they were relatively normal artists with quality control over their content who make dope music.

BUT NOW 

They’ve flipped the script and are out here releasing some of the most out there, experimental, and innovative music we’ve heard in the underground so far! It’s in that constant push for originality that keeps me coming back to them!

Across this tape, we hear a variety of sounds and inspirations. Some aspects are slow and methodical, some gritty and raw in nature. Others are fast and furious (pun intended) with everything else in between.

You’ve got tracks like -SAM PUCKETT, the intro track that kicks this whole thing off! And on this one, we hear the example of a slow and methodically charged beat with a combination of that funky bass, wavey & plucked strings in two separate layers.

As well as this whistling-type vocal harmony that sounds angelic across the track!

We have tracks like -TRINITY, which feels a lot more atmospheric and harmonious! With a combination of those elegant piano keys, a gorgeous flute track, and what sounds like long keyboard samples with some rock and roll-style drums every now and then in a quick snippet sample!

Not to mention Ant Kelly’s verse that ends in that quirky way of him being upset the beat was cut off early! Hilarious (especially since it was his main man KROOKED who would have cut him off).

Another track is -CLIFFORD, which is the outro track and I’d have to say the most out there track in the list. It’s got this rock influence with those heavy-handed electric guitar strings, separate bass strings, and very subtle drums that are almost drowned out from the rest of the instrumentation! Definitely a solid way to close the track off! (It lowkey reminds me of the guitar solo Marty McFly does in ‘Back To The Future 1’ in front of that rock and roll crowd.)

As far as chemistry goes, these two have spent the better part of what feels like the last three months building connection, synchronicity, and familiarity to make projects, features, and singles that highlight a sense of brotherhood and single-minded energy on said work, and we are now seeing the fruits of that labour because at this point, they sound more like actual brothers then seperate MC’s!

Across this seven-track album, we get both of them going back and forth, shining light on their various personas, eccentric personalities, and dope styles that stand them apart but keep them vibing across the same process!

They utilise the beats to their advantage, using the variety given to express their deepest sense of creativity, vulgar bars with slick charisma to pull them off!

It feels like they are just going into the studio and saying whatever is on their mind that day and transforming those into rhythm form before putting them on the tracks!

These two men sound completely free of fear, opinions, expectations, and judgement. They are making the music THEY WANT to make and having fun with it! You can hear it in their voices from that tongue-in-cheek (I assume not serious) moment of Ant’s beat cutting off, to the outro track of the barking noises! 

To even the flexing, over the top lyricisms. These men are two brothers, in the studio working on shit they want and it’s something I love to hear because when they have fun, I have fun and it becomes an enjoyable experience overall! 

Come on and try this one out! Is this album gonna break records? Probably not but that’s not why this was made! A group of men coming together for artistic sake and for taking the game back to when it was more fun, less work! Plus it’s only like $8 I think? $5? Something incredibly cheap that wouldn’t hurt anyone to go support! So do so below and feel the natural connection and energy! 

https://krooked.bandcamp.com/album/wizardz