Brooklyn-by-way-of-the-Bay rapper/producer K. Flay has been building momentum over the last couple of years through a series of EPs and mixtapes. Some of that attention comes from the fact that a pretty white woman is making hip hop, but that only gets you so far. A pretty face doesn’t get you on a Zion I record, talent does. Looks didn’t teach her to play guitar or make beats or get her through Stanford. Simply put, K. Flay is one of the more interesting artists working in hip hop today, and Eyes Shut shows us why.

K. Flay doesn’t have a huge voice, but she’s learned to develop a delivery that makes use of what she has. She’s come to own her soft, raspy delivery, which compliments lyrics that are dripping with irony and sarcasm. She’s also learned to balance this with a production style that incorporates huge drum beats and fuzzed-out, distorted guitars and keyboards. On the opening track, “10th Ave,” she presents a portrait of a young woman struggling with identity and coming to terms with her success. She states at the end of the song, “I’m always good, but it would be nice to have the option to be bad,” which is a conflict that comes into a lot of her lyrics. It’s lines like this and song titles like “We Hate Everyone” that make me think that K. Flay would have done well back in the heyday of Lollapalooza playing to disillusioned Gen X-ers. However, while it’s easy to get wrapped up in her lyrics and public persona, it’s also very important to note that she does her own production. She creates a unique sound by mixing raw hip hop beats with heavy guitar and pop rock hooks. In lesser hands, weaving these styles together could lead to something really corny, but I think that it helps that K. Flay’s reference points appear to be along the lines of Zion I and The Pixies. This leads to a much more interesting marriage than others who have attempted to blend rock and hip hop. Add to this an emcee who can move from rapid fire rhymes to an unorthodox half sung delivery, and you start to get an idea of what K. Flay is all about.

Eyes Shut is short and sweet and to the point. It’s a condensed collection of K. Flay’s most challenging and focused work to date. I had been on the fence with K. Flay in the past, but this EP has demonstrated that we need to be paying attention to her. The only question is where she takes it from here.