Andrew is an artist from Philadelphia who broke through in 2020 when he released W.O.T.W. on Cold Rhymes, produced by Necessary People (Height Keech + ialive). He followed that up with 2021’s Pop 1967 on U Don’t Deserve This Beautiful Art, this time self-produced. He hops labels once again to Three Dollar Pisotal as he gets right back in the saddle and drop another full-length album, The Rain Knows What It’s Doing.

It’s not often that I quote an artist’s own description of their album, but regarding hiw own work andrew simply stated, “What if Grand Royal and Daptone put out an album together? That is andrew’s “The Rain Knows What It’s Doing”!” I can’t think of a more fitting description. Entirely self-produced, andrew starts with a deep and solid foundation of classic East Coast funk, drawing you in with great grooves and killer horn riffs, and then slowly expands upon that sound to get a little weirder as the album goes along, maybe with a touch of prog, psychedelic, or punk, just to give things an edge and subvert your expectations a little. Whichever way you slice it, though, it always remains accessible and fun and inviting to listen to. While all of this is happening, andrew is hopping on the mic with his raspy voice and conversational flow and just hitting you with a great combination of deeply honest and personal rhymes and some mad shit talking with tons of clever wordplay. So while you get those really touching moments like the closing track, “Keep on Passing the Open Windows,” in which Andrew goes discusses the idea of being open to asking for and receiving help when you need it, you also get those moments like on “Orange Plastic Pistol” when you just want to turn that shit up and revel in all the trash talking. It’s an incredibly well-rounded album that immediately feels familiar when you press play.

andrew might feel like a relatively new voice on the scene, but he’s quickly making the case that he should be one to stick around. He’s shown a lot of growth over the past couple of years, and he makes another leap to the next level as producer and as emcee with The Rain Knows What It’s Doing.