In 2020 hip-hop, you need something that’ll get the people going. Whether it be crazy lyricism with storytelling abilities, an out-there gimmicky approach to your bars, or a brutally-honest-but-still-fun take on your life, you can’t just get by spitting just for the sake of spitting–even if you’re an established act, Eminem mostly notwithstanding. In all honesty, bars on top of bars just to say you’ve got bar, it gets boring after a while.

Enter Juenethia, the December 2019 project from Bryson the Alien.

The Portland lyricist raps over intergalactic-sounding beats produced by the likes of Chuck Inglish and Blu. Sonically, it takes me back to the late 2000s while giving us Gambino-like lyricism. It’s nerdy at times, boombappy at others, lo-fi-ish at others still. It’s like if Del the Funky Homosapien would’ve written the lyrics for “Positive Contact” in the late 2010s. However, instead of being a part of a dystopian space opera, we got an otherworldly being existing among humans, reveling in their humanity and our universal connections.

The eight-track project was my first introduction to Bryson and it won’t be the last time I check out his stuff. Here’s Juenethia via Spotify.

Remember to stream/buy (especially via Bandcamp) things you like and support dope music in all its forms.