Homeboy Sandman is an emcee from New York that has been releasing music for over a decade. After a prolific run on Stones Throw, he hopped over to Mello Music Group last year when he released his album, Dusty. Now he’s back for his second on Mello Music, Don’t Feed The Monster.

Over the years, Homeboy Sandman has oscillated between working with one producer on a project and using the piecemeal approach. His last album, Dusty, was produced entirely by Mono En Stereo. For Don’t Feed the Monster, he’s using the same approach. He teamed up with Quelle Chris, who also had a heck of run in the 2010s, both as an emcee and producer. Chris does make one cameo on the mic, but really he’s here as a producer on this project. He’s laying down some really interesting beats that walk that fine line between being really weird and being really fun and accessible, the kind of beats that make you want to turn up the volume and nod your head along to. These beats suit Sandman very well, and he’s able to navigate the space and adjust his flows accordingly with each curveball that Chris sends his way. The album opens with a doozy of an opening statement with “Trauma,” an intimate song in which Sandman gets raw about the various physical and sexual traumas that he experienced when he was young, and how that has affected him to this day. I don’t know what led him to finally reaching the point in his life where he could finally communicate with his audience how these things affected him, but I’m glad he got there. It’s a very moving moment that really makes you feel connected to Sandman as a listener. I wish I could say that we just travel along an upward trajectory from there, but the truth is the album gets fairly messy and the quality is a bit up and down. After “Trauma,” songs like “Extinction” and “Stress” are good, but not great, but it all hits the fan when we get to the fifth song, “Waiting on My Girl.” Now, this song doesn’t even begin to approach a song like “Pussy” on Dusty, but writing a song about how your girlfriend takes a long time to get ready is never going to be a good idea. However lived-in this experience might be for you, you’re never going to be able to write a song about this without having the best case scenario being that it comes across as some bad ‘80s stand-up comedy routinge. Things get back on track for a couple of songs, but then we hit “Don’t Look Down,” and shit just falls apart again as Sandman tries to make a hard track about how he’s not afraid to take chances. It’s not a bad idea in theory, but one of the narratives he chooses to illustrate this point is talking about how having psoriasis made him hesitant to go to the beach, but he took a leap and went, and no one noticed and he even got to smash, so it was a good thing he DIDN’T LOOK DOWN! Not exactly the most inspiring story in the world. We then get back on track for “Monuments” and “Triple Warmer,” which feature a good combination of trash talk and introspective rhymes. Just as soon as we start to get some momentum going again, we’re back off the rails with “Biters,” a song that just sounds like the most crotchety and paranoid old man rap song, where Sandman is just OBSESSED with people biting his style to the point where it gets to be very off-putting, especially since I can’t think of too many people I would even compare to Sandman as an emcee. Fortunately, the album ends on a run of decent songs without getting derailed again, but this rollercoaster ride is frustrating to say the least, especially when you know how good Sandman can be when he’s at his best.

Homeboy Sandman has a ton of talent, but he also seems to be his own worst enemy in terms of quality control. As he approaches forty, I can’t say that his music is getting more mature, and in a lot of ways it feels like he’s taken a step backward. Musically, Don’t Feed The Monster is very interesting, and there are moments when you think you’re on the verge of breaking through to that next level, where you might get a truly special album, but then Sandman always seems to make a lyrical retreat and shoots himself in the foot with something really childish.