Dark Time Sunshine

I'm not afraid to hide my complete fandom when it comes to Zavala and Onry Ozzborn as individuals. Zavala has made some of the most amazingly crisp and perfect fucking beats I've heard since I've even remembered trying to remember everything I've ever wanted to remember remembering as beat perfection. And Onry, well, I will never hide my excitement for the dude. Onry exudes everything I want in an emcee: a sense of humor, a style all his own, a voice I fucking love, the ability to create inside jokes with the listener after the very first listen, a meter you seriously cannot fucking fuck with, and the ability to feel cooler just by listening to the motherfucker.

When combined, these two jagbags have managed to create some of my favorite hip hop to date. Their debut fully as Dark Time Sunshine, Vessel, was a breakthrough album for me personally, as it delivered my new favorite emcee over my new favorite producer. Zavala paints a delicate menagerie with the bright-n-dainty shine-dirty while Onry patiently fills the areas that need filling the most with even keeled pronunciations of scorn, defiance, humor, space travel, discount cigarettes, magazine subscriptions and strength.

Their latest, ANX, is the perfect kick in the taint of those expecting what the greek music bloggerz might call a sophomorus slumpus, but they're wearing an even larger boot this time. And we all know what big bootz means bro. (Amazing understanding of America's tax system bro!) Onry fucking murders this shit without breaking a sweat, but I expected that. Onry has obviously taken his place as the Chuck Norris of hip hop, where his sweat cures cancer, and gets you more money back on your taxes bro), but alas he has never sweated bro.

What I didn't expect on ANX was Zavala to actually trump his work on Vessel. The pair of tracks Can't Wait and Cultclass are two new essential examples of work from a producer who makes 'OK Computer on mushrooms' hip hop beats without sounding anything less than fucking epic. Seriously the first time the beat dropped on Can't Wait, I pulled a hip hop cliche and put my hand over my mouth and screamed "Whoaaaaa" as I jumped towards an invisible friend at a hip hop show that wasn't taking place. I was by myself bro. I didn't even care bro.

This time around ANX is filled with guests you'd both expect and find unexpected. Ceschi is a given, dude belongs on DTS tracks. But Child Actor? Fucking unbelievable. Fucking Swamburger? SWAM SHITS on fucking Aesop Rock on this shit. Hard. Seriously, Swam is your favorite rapper now that he makes Aesop sound like a thesaurus fellating English major who can't discern his dick from his wrist where he scribbles out all his freestylez bro. I'm kidding.

It's worse.

Swamburger goes so incredibly hard on this shit I'm actually considering renaming my daughter after him.

Dark Time Sunshine deserve every bit of saliva dripping from their collective wang, they're fucking murder on tape.

To further their amazeballsness, they make Busdriver sound the fucking best I've ever heard him. The combination of Onry and Bus is hype as fucking fuck and I can't believe the beat Zavala drops under all the fucking anarchy. Plus, the hook is so incredibly catchy in its meter, I've found myself hunched over and bouncing like a zombie in the Thriller video repeating "Look-at-what-the-cat-dragged-iiiiin" and it's earning me many many looks of adoration, I assure you bro. The way it turns into a 70s porno at the end is straight sex.

Poenia Suddarth is another one of those "who the fuck this be?" episodes that ANX throws at you. While it's difficult to top DTS featuring the sang sang vocals of Reva DeVito, Poenia's flow makes Dark Time Sunshine tread that line between hip hop and pop, and it's so fucking deliciously accessible I think some of us fanboys should consider blasting Top 40 radio with requests for it.

Overall, this album is fucking huge tittays on a catalog that is already featuring very large tittays. It's just that now the tittays are fucking huuuuuuuge bro.

ANX is amazing.