Stadium Lo Champions

Canadian rapper Raz Fresco has often drawn upon fashion for inspiration, evidenced by projects like *Deluxe Hilfiger Regalia* and *Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen*. A sequel to the latter of those albums, *Stadium Lo Champions* nods to the coveted Polo Ralph Lauren collection from 1992 as it properly reunites him with Toronto producer Futurewave. Together, they make a sonically stylish pair, lacing rugged yet lush boom-bap-indebted instrumentals with intricately layered and dexterously delivered rhymes. While Fresco’s catalog includes solid work with the likes of DJ Muggs and Nicholas Craven, he sounds particularly on point when locked in with this kindred hip-hop spirit for tracks like “Mind Light” and the sublimely beat-free “Tesla Tower Power.” Another of the rapper’s repeat collaborators, Daniel Son, steps into the ring for “Steve Austin,” while grimy Massachusetts spitters Estee Nack and al.divino take pride in the hustle on the international exchange “Alpaca.”

The Toronto rapper-producer duo’s new collaboration feels outside time, as if it really were recorded in the ’90s and only recently unearthed from some moldy basement in Staten Island.