Released: December 8, 2023

Genre: Hip-hop

From: US

Label: Break All Records

Why you should listen: AKAI SOLO’s artistic growth over the last few has been fascinating to follow. His verbose and introspective lyricism often touch on themes of colonialism and the Black experience, referencing historical events and personal happenings that have shaped his life and thoughts on love and the state of the world around him among other things. Verticality​/​/​/​Singularity was released at the back end of 2023, a dense and sprawling new album that’s just another incredible addition to his blossoming discography. It’s a 17-track album full of disorienting, muffled and experimental production from the likes of pepper adams, Earl Sweatshirt, TwentyFifthNight, Wavy Bagels, Black Noi$e, Roper Williams and iblss. On “Impel Down” and “Bespoke”, AKAI SOLO’s abstract lyricism covers themes of ego and how that impact relationships and people who love you. The disorienting and heady “Attack On Titan” is an early highlight for me, not only for its beat, but AKAI’s emphatic yet muffled vocals that sound emphatic. The rumbling beat on “Last Ride” is crazy too, as AKAI SOLO’s intricate wordplay here is great, while his flow on the electric “Black Flash” is phenomenal. “Murphy’s Law” (an adage that states that anything that could go wrong in a given situation will go wrong) has a light and colourful beat, with AKAI SOLO’s meandering verse being a standout as usual. “Stormin’ Norm” closes the album out with a colourful, uplifting beat with a triumphant beat that allows AKAI SOLO to share his heart and his thoughts one last time. The track concludes with a sampled speech about the politics of location, colonisation and how to make the right choices in order to break free from colonised mentalities. With sports, historical and anime references throughout this track and throughout the album as a whole, AKAI SOLO continues to prove why he’s one of the sharpest emcees working today. Still a lot to digest, but Verticality​/​/​/​Singularity is an exemplary body of work and shows that AKAI SOLO can still get better and better with time.

The album: