I've mentioned before my opinion regarding the confusing state of hip-hop over the last few months, with many examples of how it has become a virus that is influencing most of nowadays mainstream music while, at the same time, receiving itself more and more external influences; in the meantime, we had a few disappointing major releases ("T.I. vs T.I.P." by T.I. and, in some ways, "Graduation" by Kanye West); and some great projects coming from the margins, like El-P ("I'll Sleep When You're Dead"), Dälek ("Abandoned Language") or, most recently, this second album by 22-year-old Canadian MC, DJ and producer Cadence Weapon. The premises in here are simple: intelligent lyrics about a common guy's life, together with a very diverse panoply of beats, synths and samples that seem taken from alien elements like blog-house, electro, hi-tech funk, sci-fi sounds and blips, glitch electronica or even videogames while, at the same time, melting this digital fury with a more organic attitude felt in Cadence's down-to-earth persona. Free from that annoying ostentation that ruins some potentially interesting projects, with a sincere and contagious enthusiasm, the right doses of experimentalism in its sound, and a colourful and eclectic approach, "Afterparty Babies" feels like one of the freshest things to be heard in hip-hop since ages. (7/10)
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