Lil B

Oh my days. Lil B and Weird Forest present one of the most baffling, polarizing, and OUT THERE releases of the year with 'Rain In England'; a collision of stream-of-consciousness rap lyrics and beatless, new-age ambient synth music. It's entirely the work of internet sensation Lil B, a "based" rap savant with more than 150 myspace pages, millions of views on youtube, and the most distinctive style in circulation right now. He's been aptly described as the "anti-Drake", a lo-fi and chronically underground character with an imposing glut of material. Weird Forest can evidently see the virtue of his music as a unique entity in a sea of homogeneity, moving rap music beyond the stale cynicism of backback hiphop and the bloated boasts and empty meaning of Gangster and Pop-Rap to occupy a position in front of the computer screen in his bedroom, as honest and grounded as the next man, only with the most naive and trippy synth music for company. To be totally honest, much of the music sounds like my 2 year old niece palming her casio keyboard, but that's a massive part of B's charm, that beautifully unpretentious, completely unconventional, and wickedly unprecedented juxtaposition of emotion and "based" technique which makes for an undeniably compelling listen. If you're going to make one wildcard purchase this year, 'Rain In England' could be your most rewarding. Then again... Check the samples and make your own mind up!