I think God wanted me to start writing again, because I’ve been getting NOTHING BUT BANGERS today.

This one is from SOTB mainstay C.Shreve the Professor. “Oooh (AVL)” plays, in some ways, as if K.I.D.S. Mac was here today. The boombap production from King Garbage and D.R.U.G.S. Beats is lovely and feels like a summertime anthem. That’s while also showing love to the place that made Shreve who he is today (North Carolina, more specifically Asheville). Now, you all know where I’m going with this. It’s C.Shreve, one of the dopest rappers I’ve had the chance to cover, regardless of age/race/orientation/etc. So the song is great and has a lot of replay value. I might as well drop the tagline and keep it push.

But since that’s no fun, I continue. The thing that also made me run this back a couple times was the wordplay. The way that this man twists punchlines into fleshed-out minisongs in of themselves. I also love how he ties everything together as both a braggy track about himself and his hometown–with introspective lyrics galore. Plus, Shreve’s pen game has not and (seemingly) will not get rusty as time’s gone on. In fact, based on what I’ve heard from Shreve in the last 7-10(?) years, he’s only gotten better with time. A summertime anthem with bars and real spill real deal? I’ll take that any day of the week.

The notion that hip-hop is a young man’s game continues to be challenged and proven wrong. I mean, Redman has had some of the most-fire freestyles over the last year-plus. C.Shreve the Professor makes boombap that doesn’t sound dated or forced. So if I had to chose between Red and Shreve or whatever mainstream craziness is still going on, I’d rather listen to Red and Shreve. That’s where my mind usually resides these days. Check out the track below and do the thing by supporting dope music in all its forms.