Illingsworth might not be a name you right away, but the emcee and producer and from Detroit has not only been working as a solo artist, but also as part of groups like Detroit CYDI, and producing for the likes of Open Mike Eagle, Milo, and Phonte, to name a few. His last solo effort came two years ago, when he released the instrumental album, Worth The Wait. Now he makes his Mello Music Debut with the ambitious You’re No Fun.

If you haven’t heard Illingsworth before, You’re No Fun is the perfect place to start, because you get a little bit of everything on this album. It’s mostly instrumental, but Illingsworth does hop on the mic here and there, just enough to show his skill as an emcee and to spice up the proceedings, but his main focus on this project are the beats. While Illingsworth comes at you with a lot of different styles over the course of the album, the overall tone of You’re No Fun is that it’s very playful. Sure, there are some meditative, Dilla-esque downtempo tracks alongside his uptempo numbers, but no matter what he’s doing, he always manages to add a key sample – something to add some bounce to the beat, maybe a touch of novelty, but he’s almost always trying to make you crack a smile as the album carries on. He knows he has the skills as a producer, so he doesn’t flex as much as dare you to keep up with everything he’s laying down. On the mic, he’s got a very sarcastic and absurdist sense of humor, which fits right alongside all of his beats. It’s also on this note that it makes perfect sense that one of the two guests that he brings on the album is Open Mike Eagle, who gets to vent alongside Illingsworth on the standout track, “Peeves.”

The album might be titled You’re No Fun, but Illingsworth himself is tons of fun to listen to. He delivers a wide variety of high quality beats that flow really well from start to finish, always keeping you on your toes. He’s going to win over a lot of new listeners with this one.