Marlowe is the North Carolina duo consisting of emcee Solemn Brigham and producer L’Orange. They released their first self-titled album back in 2018. They returned for round two in 2020, ensuring everybody that this project wasn’t just a one-off. Now they stay on schedule after two years by releasing Marlowe 3.

Sometimes it’s just nice to approach an album without any trepidation, because you know the level of quality and the style of hip hop you’re going to get. This is to say that Marlowe 3 is a great and fun listen because Solemn Brigham and L’Orange just stayed the course, trusted their chemistry together, and just continued to hone their sound as a duo. L’Orange is throwing down some of his biggest, most energetic barn burners, with drums that absolutely slap, and then Brigham is hopping on the mic to deliver a variety of really technically proficient flows and then infusing them with a playful charisma and tons of trash talking and clever wordplay. It’s the type of album that you just want to turn up and let it go once you hit play and just enjoy the ride and wyle out for a minute. There’s not a real secret why this album is good and just tons of fun to listen to. You put together a talented producer who is known for digging deep in the crates and cleverly flipping his samples and an emcee who was born to rock the crowd, and then add in the level of comfort that comes from touring and making three albums together, and wouldn’t you know it? You have an album in Marlowe 3 that just fucking knocks.

Sometimes you don’t need to overthink things. Trust your skill levels, trust that you work well together, and then just go into the studio and have fun with it, and trust that that energy will translate into the album. That’s what happened when L’Orange and Solemn Brigham went in to make Marlowe 3, and they made a collection of absolute bangers.