The Hues Brothers is the collaboration between New York emcee Rabbi Darkside and UK producer Mr. Simmonds. It’s been a few years since we got a proper release from Rabbi Darkside, with his last full-length, Prospect Avenue, which came out back in 2013. Now, with this relaunch of Say Word that started last year, we get this new project, Radio Activity.

It’s interesting to see the shift from one project to the next, from Rabbi Darkside’s last solo album and this new album as part of The Hues Brothers. Prospect Avenue was a more classic East Coast hip hop album, with some big hooks and energy that made the material absolutely kill in a live setting. In pairing up with Mr. Simmonds for this new project, we get an album in Radio Activity that is much darker and introspective in tone. There is musicianship and lyricism for days, but this is a headphones album through and through. Darkside keeps his delivery in more of a limited melodic and dynamic range, giving the lyrics more the feel that he’s reading from personal journals and working through his philosophy on life than trying to rock the crowd. Mr. Simmonds matches this tone perfectly, with this absolutely gorgeous and subtle style of production, which manages to slide between beats that reach back to the jazz-sampling style of the early ‘90s and beats that take a cue from the dark discordant beats of the underground sound of the early ‘00s, with a touch of modern R&B thrown in for good measure. Where Simmonds really shines is the way he’s able to work in this really musical style of scratching that doesn’t seek to draw attention to itself but is really just there to serve the great composition of the song. The result is an album that is really easy to form a personal relationship as you listen to it over and over as you make your daily commute or walk around the city.

Radio Activity is the type of album you don’t hear as much of anymore. It’s not a flashy album, and it won’t blow you away at first. If you give it some quality time, though, you’ll be rewarded with hip hop that slowly reveals itself to you with thoughtful lyricism and subtle, musically challenging beats.