Hit King Cobra is a new duo from Cincinnati consisting of emcee KyleDavid and producer Homage CVG. They had previously worked together, with KyleDavid making guest appearances on Homage CVG’s albums Gamma and Cincinnati Royals, but now they are officially stepping out as a duo with their full-length album, Milking the Clock.

Despite all the sports references between the name of the group, the title of the album, and the cover art, you don’t need to worry – this isn’t some sort of novelty sports-themed hip hop. No, this is gritty, soul-sampling, hop-in-the-cypher hip hop. Homage is just throwing down solid boom bap beats with some great grooves to them, and KyleDavid is hopping on the mic and just spitting bar after bar after bar. Sometimes it feels topical, other times it feels more abstract and stream-of-consciousness, but the dude has rhymes for days, and great feel for just sitting back in the pocket of Homage’s beats. The only thing that might hold this album back for some listeners is that it doesn’t feature much in the way of big hooks or sing-along choruses, so the music won’t stick with you in that way. However, if you’re the type of hip hop head that goes in for dissecting particular rhymes and digging the finer points of some smartly constructed hip hop beats, this is the album for you.

Milking the Clock is a solid debut from Hit King Cobra, giving us an album that is strictly for the hardcore hip hop heads. They’ve got great chemistry together, and they’ve given us an album that is all substance, no flash right out of the gate. I don’t know where they go from here, but I’m certainly curious to find out.