Kay the Aquanaut is an emcee from Saskatoon who has been at this for over two decades now. Over recent years, one of his most trusted collaborators has been with fellow Canadian Maki. Their last album together, Earth Station 7, came out almost exactly a year ago. Now they are back for their fourth album together in five years, The Nautical Blue.

Maki and Kay have made for an interesting pairing from the jump, since Kay brings this big personality to the mic, and Maki likes to make these really moody downtempo beats. They make it work, though, with this push-pull relationship where Maki pulls the more introspective raps out of Kay and he in turn provides this shot of melody and energy to the proceedings. The mix of the two always results in some really thought-provoking hip hop, and The Nautical Blue is no exception. Loosely based on Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Kay is able to take this old text and translate these themes of bravado and exploration and discovery into 2020 hip hop. It might seem like an unusual choice at first, but over the course of twelve tracks, Kay the Aquanaut will make a believer out of you, as he weaves together these personal tales that really put you in the shoes of these characters, and as he balances the literal and metaphorical interpretations of the ocean. Maki doesn’t overplay his hand as a producer here – there’s no fog horns or seagull sounds or anything like that. He sticks to what he does best, creating this introspective and moody soundscape. There’s a lot of space to his production, never overcrowding his tracks, which allows the mind to wander out to sea a little bit as Kay starts unraveling these tales. The whole thing comes together to create this really intellectual and emotional hip hop album that requires some close listening.

The Nautical Blue isn’t your typical hip hop album, but that’s a good thing when you’ve got two talents like Kay the Aquanaut and Maki coming together to make some magic. This is an album that encourages you put on your headphones and meet them on their level.