Chillin’ Villain Empire is a group from Los Angeles whose roots go back to the mid-‘80s, when Riddlore and Jay Be Nice first started to collaborate together. Soon they started to fold in other members, and they soon became part of legendary scenes like The Good Life and Project Blowed. A lot of different members have come and gone over the years, but the name and the legacy have never really gone away, even if they’ve been dormant for certain time periods. Now after a decade where all the members have been working on different projects, they have come back together like Voltron to release their brand new album, Critical Bass Theory.

A bad pun might make you groan or shake your head, but then you’ll move on and forget about it. A good pun might initially make you smile or giggle a little, but then it can give way to reveal a deeper truth about things. This is how I feel about Critical Bass Theory. Yes, it’s a clever play on “critical race theory,” a phrase that has become weaponized over the last few years, but as soon as you begin to listen to the album, you’ll see that CVE is directly engaging with that subject matter, while also engaging with some killer production and giving us all a lesson in the political potential of bass as well. It’s an album where CVE is both showing their roots as OGs of the L.A. underground, but then propelling the music forward towards the future. This is true of their flows, and it’s also true of the production. It’s an incredible tightrope to walk, and a tall order for a group that hasn’t made a full length album as a group in over a decade, but it just shows you what a collective of artists can accomplish when they all communicate, push each other to reach that next level, and take the time to do it right. CVE could have easily cashed in a legacy chip and just put out a ho-hum album that hit on all the basic points of their past accomplishments, but that would be ignoring why CVE got into hip hop in the first place and chose this path. CVE comes from a scene that saw a way to push hip hop in different and adventurous directions while also talking to the issues of the day, and when they finally got back together to make a new album in 2023, that took that same ethos and applied it to today. They are addressing all of these issues within hip hop and the music industry and also in politics and society at large, then making them personal as they bring in their lived experiences. They do all of this while also giving a masterclass in the art of lyricism, flow, and hooks. On top of that, the production is also reaching that next level, where old dogs have learned new tricks as CVE has found a way to update their sound with modern production techniques while still sounding like themselves. Again, this is no easy feat, and one that they should be commended for. It’s an album that you’re going to want to turn up and get wild to, but also listen closely to and on repeat because it’s so layered and nuanced.

Critical Bass Theory is the album we didn’t know we needed in 2023. Luckily for all of us, CVE knew, and they went to work and reached deep to push themselves to deliver one of the best albums of their entire catalogue. It’s timely and timeless, speaking to issues that matter, all while being incredibly inventive with the music. It’s good to have them back.