Cakes Da Killa is an artist originally from New Jersey but now based in Brooklyn. He’s been releasing music for over a decade, most notably having a breakthrough in 2016 with the release of the LP Hedonism. Since that time, there have been tours, singles, guest spots, and he appeared on Netflix’s Rhythm & Flow. Now he’s finally back with a new full-length album, Svengali.

Even though it’s been six years since Hedonism, you wouldn’t know it once you press play on Svengali. Just like that, Cakes hasn’t missed a beat, jumping right back into this mix of house and hip hop that all meets on the queer dance floor. Cakes is a skilled emcee and can come at you with a bunch of different flows, and he talk his shit with the best of them. He can also find all of these moments within the album to present a much more complex persona, getting into personal relationships, the music industry, dynamics within queer spaces, and making his way as a queer artist in traditionally hetero spaces. This is all part of Cakes own unique journey, and it’s all contained within Svengali. There are more than a few moments where Cakes gets to let his charisma shine and guide you onto the dance floor where you can just lose yourself for a moment. There is also room to breath spread throughout, where Cakes can have a moment to reflect, look inward, and get intimate with the audience. In lesser hands, this would be a total momentum killer, but with Cakes, it’s all part of the ebb and flow of the album and just allows listeners to connect to the project on a much deeper level. You have these moments where Cakes is the baddest bitch in the room, then a moment where Cakes can be vulnerable, but then Cakes can gather himself and turn the party up to the next level.

Svengali took a while to get here, but it was more than worth the wait. It’s incredibly fun and accessible, but then once you start to dig in, Cakes Da Kill reveals that there is so much more depth to the project. You get Cakes’ whole self on this album, and that passion and vulnerability meets with one of the greatest performers working today to deliver one of the best albums of the year.