#drumless

Tracklist:

400 Million Plus Tax • No Vacancy • George Bondo • 327 • French Toast • Euro Step • Allah Sent Me • 500 Dollar Ounces • Ver$ace • Claiborne Kick • Shawn vs Flair • Party With Pop Smoke • Le Djoliba

EPIC ALBUM COVER #312

Armand Hammer - Shrines

Released: 2020 (Backwoodz Studioz)

Today's Song of the Day is "Switches On Everything" by Westside Gunn, with Run The Jewels and Stove God Cooks, released in 2022 as the tenth track from his mixtape 10. You can find the Song of the Day on bandcamp, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music.

"Switches On Everything" is in one sense a classic drumless Westside track with a star-studded feature list, but the actual feel of the beat is much less gritty and gangsta rap-oriented than such a track (for comparison you might look to "Super Kick Party" and "Mac Don't Stop" from the same tape). The beat is dominated by a kindly old synthesizer handing out ear candy, and the features run rampant on its lawn. El-P drops some ridiculous bars talking about "Gunn said he hang with dealers but he fuck with that RT / J I told him I do drugs and bump Griselda with my fleet," but his voice is smooth and low enough that it still hits. Killer Mike's flow is incredible, sing-songy but not sung, and his bars are pretty funny too. He raps "I am atypical, mythical / I perform miracles whimsical / And I get paid, for gracing the stage, shit talking, grabbing my genitals," and I think that's the first time anyone has ever rapped a limerick fully seriously. Stove starts off with "Told the plug from now on when you stamping my bricks / Make sure it's the image of God, and let me be clear / The image of God is the image of me and my n****s / The Last Supper is me at the table with twelve water whippers," and his verse doesn't really lose that energy. Gunn mostly provides the hook: "Switches on everything, I don't leave the house unless the switches on everything!" which is alright. I really just love the energy the rappers bring to the track. It's a majestic sight.