First of a Living Breed
First of a Living Breed is Homeboy Sandman's first full length album for Stones Throw. Artwork by Jeff Jank, Photo by Joel Frijhoff.
Dropping knowledge is good. Pedantry, lecturing listeners and telling them what to think is bad. Those poles make up two sides bisected by a thin line, which Homeboy Sandman straddles for the entirety of his first LP with Stones Throw.
Quick like Yelawolf or MGK but literate, articulate, and eclectic enough to deserve a spot on the Stones Throw roster, First of a Living Breed is Homeboy Sandman's great entrance, following up two solid street releases and brimming with that "everything in the right place" energy.
Homeboy Sandman's liquid flow and intelligent lyrics make him a perfect fit for Stones Throw, and tracks like the soul-inflected Whatchu Want From Me? and the wonky digital four-four of opener Rain have an infectious, immediate appeal which is sustained through headphone-based close listening and dancefloor rug-cutting. He namechecks Black Thought of The Roots as a favourite emcee; his tightly-constructed, complex flow certainly owes a debt to the Philadelphia rapper, as well as the woozy, psychedelic wordplay of Aesop Rock.
Former high-school teacher and current Brother Ali tourmate Homeboy Sandman has been bubbling in the underground since he first showed up on...