I’m sometimes not the biggest doubletime/chopper flow fan. The bars are solid a good 81% of the time, but the flow? Sometimes, it just feels like they’re doing it just to be all “look what I can do,” like Stuart from MAD TV.

I don’t know whether that character would be politically correct in the 2020s or not, but that’s not why we’re here. This is mainly a music and sometimes anime site. With that in mind, there are songs and artists I’ll give at least a listen to based on their subject matter. That’s even if they’re rapping fast (and I’m sometimes thinking slow).

Rapper Cyan Sueño (“Blue Dream”) recently hit my line with “Strong and Silent.” I had never heard of the artist. But his track is one that speaks on nonviolence and the art of restraint. So, I’m definitely here for that sort of energy. For example, a couplet in the song’s chorus goes “keeping the peace with Barrettas/I mean, keeping the peace like Coretta.” Hearing that couplet, I prepared myself for a track that was conscious with an edge, sort of like a Kendrick Lamar circa…well, every era. Sueño didn’t disappoint. The brother’s got a heavy helping of lyrical content here. Honestly, it’s better if you just listen to it versus me trying to explain everything.

The beat is a bit boombappy but also a bit turn-up. The lyrical content, like R4R’s “Riley” (lots of conscious concept bars this weekend), it’s way past solid. The song mainly talks about ways to deescalate, diffuse and disperse testy situation without fights, gunplay or police brutality. Cyan Sueño‘s wordplay and flow are something to pay attention to, as well. Yes, he’s going doubletime. But it’s still mellow enough, flow-wise, that you can pick up on all the bars, all the punchlines, all the metaphors.

All in all, y’all? It’s a great track. Go check it out above, thank God or whomever you pray to (if you’re the praying type) that I found my pen game again and support dope music in all its forms.