Duncecap is an emcee from Brooklyn who has been putting out music since the beginning of the decade. His most recent release, Rapping is for Idiots, came out about two years ago. Now he’s returned with a new EP, miserable then.

If you listened to Rapping is for Idiots, you might think of Duncecap as an artist who dabbles in the absurd or surreal, making fun hip hop that gets its points across through with a sense of humor. Listening to miserable then, we get quite a different side of Duncecap. Pairing up with ELUCID, who’s working as another emcee’s producer for the first time, we get a much darker and introspective style of hip hop. ELUCID brings these dark and dense beats with a heavy dose of prog to them, which in turn encourages Duncecap to face his demons and open up about himself and some relationships he’s been in. With song titles like “Sometimes I Walk in the Rain,” “To Love Your Enemy is to Love Yourself,” and “What Have I Done to Myself,” you might have a pretty good idea about what you’re in for with this EP, and you would be right. It’s a little bit of a tough hang in that regard, but life isn’t all sunshine and roses, and sometimes you need to listen to some music that acknowledges that. Duncecap really opens up about some real struggles in his life, and he does so in a really honest and relatable way that I’m sure will speak to people who are looking to find their own bad experiences and sad feelings reflected in their music.

miserable then is a nice addition to Duncecap’s catalogue, even if the EP itself isn’t exactly “nice.” Life isn’t always nice, though, so we need music to help us through the ugly times as well. Duncecap has given us a mature and thoughtful EP that does just that.