Consumer Guide: May, 2026
Reviews of African Scream Contest, Carsie Blanton & The Burning Hell, Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’, Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman, Black Nile, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, Nandipha808, and more.
Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman: Miami Lice: Season Four (Rhymesayers Entertainment) Both New Yorkers first even though one is Hispanic and one Caucasian, one a Queens guy and the other from Montauk, together they lay endless verbiage with uncountable referents over spare beats. Instrumentally, it’s never quite compelling, but flow‑wise it’s unstoppable in its way, and verbally something like unequalled. Humpty Dumpty rhymes with guppies. Someone bowls 300 with a human skull. Those who feel in a fix are told to go remix the a cappella. The burgers constructed of who knows how many barely edible things turn out to rhyme with Gerber’s. A trail of talent‑show bombers whisper Our Fathers through their balaclavas. A MINUS