Negro Justice is an emcee from Nashville who has been releasing music for about the last five years. He took a big step forward with his career last year with the release of his ambitious album, Chosen Family. Not wasting any time building upon that success, he has paired up with producer JustVibez to make a new album, Art of the Craft.

JustVibez is a producer who is also from Nashville, and as he states in the opening voicemail skit on the album, produced the majority of tracks on Chosen Family. This all sets the scene for two artists who have great chemistry together, and who clearly feed off of each other’s creative energy. JustVibez has unique style of production, with a lineage that traces back through artist like Big K.R.I.T., Outkast, and UGK, but he makes it sound completely modern and his own. It’s laid back and Southern as hell, but it’s also got a little bit of an edge to it. This fits Negro Justice to a tee, as he hops on the mic and shows you all the different ways in which he’s special as an emcee. He can rock some clever extended metaphors and play with cultural touchstones such as Waffle House and Street Fighter, and he can talk mad shit, but he’s also not afraid to get deeply personal or touch on some political or social issues as well. This is to say that he’s an incredibly well-rounded emcee, and he’s got this great low voice with a Southern drawl that makes certain words really resonate as you’re listening to the album. It all comes together beautifully to make this album that while it doesn’t have one big moment, just continuously hits all of these different notes in really soulful and poignant ways. By the time you get to the end of the album, you’ve been taken on this immersive sonic journey that is so compelling, you just want to start all over from the top.

Art of the Craft is a statement album from Negro Justice and JustVibez. When people think of Nashville, they don’t tend to think of dope independent hip hop, but these two have put in the work to show you a different side of the city. It’s soulful, thoughtful, personal, musical, and just full of damn good Southern hip hop.