A soulful, snarky Southern hip-hop opus if there ever was one, Big K.R.I.T. (AKA Justin Scott) has been a busy boy for the last decade, putting out some stellar mixtapes amidst interesting but mixed bags in regards to his official LPs. That's not to say there isn't a lot to like there, but the more spontaneous approach on collections such as 4Eva N A Day back in 2012 demonstrate a surprising elasticity that even some of the biggest players in the game don't have. Plus that whole Southern drawl of his is a big plus.

So in respect to brevity, this album is a double album and it is, frankly, the best I've heard in hip-hop in what feels like forever. Is it a game changer like some people believe To Pimp A Butterfly was? Jury's out on that one, but this album has a particularly fascinating progression from track to track where the material seems to get more and more interesting the deeper you go, especially some of the especially gospel-tinged bangers on side 2 ('Keep The Devil Off', 'The Light') and so on and so forth. There is production here you will get lost in, reminding me at times of the swampy swing the boys over at Cunninlynguists love to dabble in. The structure is likely intentional, with Side 1 being more typical and Side 2 being more exploratory of what make Big K.R.I.T. tick behind all the bluster.

Perhaps the highest point on the overall proceedings is the one-two punch centerpiece of 'Get Away' and the instrumental "title track" of sorts 'Justin Scott'. The former is a soulful banger tinged with a deep sense of desperation and the latter is a synth-laden orchestral instrumental that really captures Justin's aspirations without a single verse. And that, my friends, is the sign of a good hip-hop album: when you don't need to rap at all to communicate the soul.