Everything's for Sale

A song about your inability to communicate with a lover is an odd choice for a rap album’s lead single, but Compton MC Boogie has long made it a point to differentiate himself from the gangland posturing his hood is renowned for. “Silent Ride” is half-sung, half-rapped, showing range in both delivery and persona as he confronts an issue plaguing so many relationships. “I can\'t lie, I\'m detached, I need guidance,” he confesses. Boogie’s *Everythings for Sale* album comes three years after *Thirst 48, Pt. II*, making good on the promise he’d shown over the course of a celebrated mixtape run that culminated with his signing to Shady Records in 2017. The album is steeped in vulnerability, opener “Tired/Reflections” a mix of spoken word, rapping, and intense introspection. “I’m tired of questioning if God real, I wanna get murdered already,” Boogie says at one point. On “Swap Meet,” a song about how his relationship has proved to be the best deal, he sings in the way a father would to try and settle an infant child. There is plenty barring up here as well, Boogie talking industry woes alongside JID on “Soho,” and cashing in on an appearance from label boss Eminem on “Rainy Days.” But whereas that Em feature might have once validated the MC’s mettle, in the case of *Everythings for Sale*, it’s a chance for Em to verify that he still knows a game-changing MC when he hears one.

The Compton rapper’s debut is smart, technically dazzling, and thoroughly sullen.

Has hip-hop finally turned the corner from notorious misogyny to thoughtful, redemption-yearning laments? Maybe not quite yet, but Boogie's...