New York emcee and producer ELUCID had a busy 2017, releasing two solo projects, an album from his group Armand Hammer with billy woods, and several guest spots, including all three Beans albums. There’s no rest for the weary, though, as he comes right back with another solo album, Shit Don’t Rhyme No More, as he hits the road with Milo and JPEGMAFIA.

At this point in his career, ELUCID could easily go through the motions and just release an album featuring some dark beats and his raspy low voice, and fans would be happy. However, ELUCID is not one to rest on his laurels, and he continues to push himself and his audience with his latest effort. ELUCID produces the majority of the album, but he does get help from August Fannon, Messiah Musik, and Ohbliv as well. There are moments where he stays in his comfort zone, with some ominous production and his deliberate flow as he discusses the ills of society, which are the things we might expect, and they are as good here as they’ve been as any point in his career. That’s his bread and butter. What makes the album especially interesting, though, are those unexpected moments where he steps outside the box and shows that he’s much more than just that. One of the first moments comes on “Hyssop,” which features production from Messiah Musik. Musik’s production is really peaceful and droning, with some clever manipulation of ELUCID’s vocals to create a motif throughout the song, which pushes ELUCID to drop some of his most self-reflective rhymes. On “1010 Wins,” one that ELUCID produced himself, he moves the beat towards Madlib territory, creating a great frantic loop that sounds like the soundtrack to a heist film. This energetic beat pushes ELUCID to come with a quicker flow than usual, and features more wordplay within lines than usual. The real gem of the album, though, comes on “Rick Ross Moonwalk,” which reminds me of early TV On the Radio, as ELUCID builds this minimal track with all of these weird bleeps and bloops that add an eeriness to the song. This is all going one direction, but then ELUCID counters that with a repeated sung refrain that adds a tenderness and reflective quality alongside the lyrics, which come out a couple lines at a time between these sung refrains. It’s a really interesting change of pace.

There is a lot to like about Shit Don’t Rhyme No More on it’s surface, as it’s an incredibly solid and enjoyable hip hop album. What makes it really exciting is knowing that ELUCID didn’t feel complacent, but pushed himself to expand his sound and challenge his listeners and show another side of himself to his fans. This album is a nice step forward.