New York artist Uncommon Nasa first teamed up with Baltimore producer Messiah Muzik back in 2014, when they did a couple of tracks together for Nasa’s album, New York Telephone. Since that time, they had worked together here and there, with Nasa always meaning to get on the same page with Muzik so that they could make a full-length album together. This finally happened last year, when Uncommon Nasa released Only Child in August. As great as that album was, we didn’t have to wait much longer to get more music from them, as they have now come back with a new EP, Oculus.

While Only Child might have been the grander project with a theme tying everything together, Oculus has more of the feel of an EP of two dudes just having fun making hip hop together. The chemistry is well-established, with Messiah Muzik laying down some dark underground beats not unlike those on the previous album, and Uncommon Nasa telling some stories and getting philosophical over the course of five solid tracks. Where things get really fun is on “Miracles,” which also features fellow emcees Short Fuze and Pastense hopping on the mic to trade verses with Nasa, and you get all sorts of fun shit talking and clever rhymes as they go back and forth. No one’s trying to re-invent the wheel, it’s just a bunch of talented artists all on the same page having fun making some dark underground hip hop together.

Oculus is a nice bonus EP to have after doing the heavy lifting with Only Child. Uncommon Nasa and Messiah Muzik have great chemistry together, and they let us in on just a little bit more fun with this release.