Hellsent is a Chicago emcee who’s been releasing music for over a decade now, first as part of the duo OuterLimitz alongside Qwazaar, then as a solo artist. Four years ago, he teamed up with producer Batsauce to deliver an album called Bat Outta Hell. Now they finally return with a follow up full-length album, Illegal Tender.

There are a lot of interesting angles to this album, so let’s go through them. First, for a guy who’s not from Chicago (he’s originally from Jacksonville and now based in Berlin), Batsauce has contributed a significant amount of music that’s part of the “Chicago” sound, whether it be working with Hellsent or Qwazaar. What’s also interesting about Batsauce’s production is the subtle ways that he adjusts his beats depending on what the projects are for. When he’s working with Qwazaar, the beats get more psychedelic and trippy and expansive, but with Hellsent, they are a bit more minimal, gritty, and concise. That’s because Hellsent is one of these guys that you’ll find in any large enough city with a legit hip hop scene – he’s not making any pop hits, but his street poetry becomes part of the backbone of the city. So while he’s not widely known outside of Chicago, if you ask another emcee from Chicago who their favorite emcee is, there’s a good chance they’ll say “Hellsent.” The reason why is on display on Illegal Tender, as he rips through fourteen tracks of thoughtful rhymes, touching on everything from religion to Black Lives Matter to the influence of Nas and Jay-Z. He does all of this with a conversational flow, with a slight rasp to his voice, with all of his words coming through extremely clear. My favorite song on the album is “Freedom Isn’t Free,” a very minimal track with nature sounds and gongs punctuating Hellsent’s words as he ruminates on the meaning of the word “freedom,” and how me might actually achieve it, and where we might find it.

Illegal Tender isn’t an album that will necessarily blow you away at first, but that’s because what makes this album so good is all the small details. Batsauce crafts some really intricate and soulful beats while keeping everything fairly minimal, and Hellsent focuses on the personal nature of his words, really opening up about his hopes, dreams, fears, and beyond. It takes some close listening to appreciate what these two have created together, but it’s more than worth it.