Philly emcee/producer andrew started releasing music a few years ago, but he really caught people’s attention with his debut on Cold Rhymes in 2020, W.O.T.W. Earlier this year, he released a self-produced album called The Rain Knows What It’s Doing over on Three Dollar Pistol Music. Now he’s back with Cold Rhymes with a new LP, Sad Dance Songs/I Don’t Know.

A lot of the time, when an emcee who also produces works with another producer, it’s because that collaboration is taking their music in a different direction that they probably wouldn’t have gotten to on their own. In the case of Sad Dance Songs/I Don’t Know, andrew is mostly working with Donovan Days to produce the album, although we also get one track from Darko the Super and one from Pagez, as well as a couple co-produced by andrew and a couple solely produced by andrew. The shape that this gives the album is this intimate, melancholy psychedelic-garage-rock-meets-hip-hop vibe. There are a few moments here and there where the drums get bigger and the energy gets turned up, but for the most part this is a pretty understated affair. This in turn gives andrew a chance to hop on the mic and get really personal and introspective with his lyricism, reflecting on both his journey as an artist and his personal life. There are a few moments where he turns his gaze outward, such as on “Scamerica,” which really goes in about the class struggle in the U.S. and his personal disgust with the way that greed has spread so thoroughly into our culture. Mostly, though, this is an album that you want to listen to in a one-on-one situation, where you can really sit with andrew’s lyricism and get to know his journey and philosophy, and then spend some time reflecting on your own.

Sad Dance Songs/I Don’t Know is another nice addition to andrew’s short discography. He hasn’t been releasing music for very long, but in the last few years he’s given us some really creative and heartfelt projects. This album shows us yet another side of who he is as an artist.