The DMV area duo of Kev Brown and J Scienide are back at it again as they drop their sophomore project Stray From the Pack. The LP is the follow up to their debut collaborative tape Drum Machine/Tape Cassette, which came out about a year ago. The second time proves to be magical as the duo craft an organically cohesive project showcasing both their lyricism and production skills.
The 12-track body of work is tight-knit and from the opening "The Set-Up" the listener is drawn into the very fabric that makes these duo gel perfectly. Thick dusty drums, surgically chopped samples, and of course, dope bars like "Futuristic nigga, never dug up in the past/ Reverberate towards the hand grenade, Nat Turner shit/Human torch you can see how hot that the burner get" is littered all over the place. Scienide holds down the boards on the follow-up cut “Leave it to the Pros” with sparkling piano riffs and crisp drums while Brown delivers a short piece warning newcomers to just leave it to the pros.
On the mic, Brown, and Scienide give a mix of insightful gems while weaving clever wordplay and straight-talk about their status in hip-hop and the world in general. On the production, the two deftly step out of the comfort zone of boom-bap as they flip obscure left-field samples and loop slightly out-there drums on joints like the soul-filled single “Cutlass Supreme” featuring DJ Jon Doe on the cuts and the gritty closing track “Legendary Rugged.”
Stray From the Pack is now available on all digital platforms here.
Fittingly, the two linked up this past autumn to shoot the newly released video for “Out the Safari,” which is both a celebration of the album’s release and their work together as a whole.
