In the fall of 2020, Vermont producer Rico James connected with producer JL of Boomslang. The two wanted to work together on a project, but since they couldn’t work in person, they developed a new challenge for each other, where one producer would select a drum break and send it to the other and encourage them to build out the beat from there. It pushed the two out of their respective comfort zones and got the creative juices flowing. Around this same time, the other half of Boomslang, emcee Sed One, had been working with emcee Learic of Aztext, and they needed some beats for the EP they were planning. Naturally, Sed One reached out to JL, who then turned the two emcees onto what these two producers had been up to. Just like that, the four artists came together like Voltron, and a new group and album were born, Kinetic Fource.

The album resulting from all of this serendipity isn’t one that is that far outside the box, at least not for longtime fans of underground hip hop. What makes this album special, though, is the creativity and energy that came out of these four artists coming together and inspiring each other to take their hip hop to the next level. As a result, the beats are really energetic, with great grooves, and they always have some really interesting musical nuance to them that reveals itself upon repeat listens. Similarly with the rhymes, Sed One and Learic are both just having a great time both feeding off of this great set of beats, but also each other, trading rhymes and trying to up that creativity level each time through. When you put it all together, you get this short, intense project with great left field boom bap, tons of dense wordplay, and this chemistry that you just can’t fake. It’s instantly listenable and familiar, but then you just keep diving back in for more, because there’s so much hiding just below the surface.

Kinetic Fource is a great release that came together naturally in the best way possible. Unfortunately, the future of this collaboration was dealt a humungous blow when JL passed away in the fall of 2021 after a battle with cancer. The good news is that his legacy is able to live on with music like that featured on this album, which features some of the best beats of his career.