Malibu Ken (studio album) by Malibu Ken

Ace's voice, and proficiency with flow and lyricism fit Tobacco's unique production seamlessly and I doubt many rappers could pull that off. I know nothing about Tobacco but this is among Ace's best work, and that's saying something for the rapper with the largest vocabulary in the game. Theme's vary from disgusting hygiene, to true crime, to eagle's living in an urban environment eating a kitten. "Tuesday", "Dog Years" and "Purple Moss" stand out to me for their smooth nature, but there's honestly not a track worth skipping over. "Acid King" actually made me uncomfortable until I learned what it was about and now it's one of my favorites. The only reason I didn't give it a perfect score is I prefer "The Impossible Kid".

Compared to other Aesop project, I was underwhelmed by the instrumentals but Aesop's flow and lyrics still made this a very enjoyable listen.

Some interesting ideas on display here. Rock's flow is (as usual) near flawless. However, Tobacco's production does become a bit same-same the further the album progresses, particularly when some hooks are little more than Tobacco speaking through a heavily distorted, robot-like filter.
That said, when it comes to the individual tracks, this collab succeeds more than it fails. "Corn Maze", "Tuesday" and "Purple Moss" are all brilliant alt-rap cuts. But the underdog of Malibu Ken is "Acid King". It's a peculiar slow-burner, but once you get the knack of the spacey synths, scatterbrain beats and morbid lyricism you'll see why Rock and Tobacco are masters of thinking outside the box.

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Good album!

Favorite tracks: Acid King

B+

Since the 2000s, Aesop Rock releases interesting and really original albums. I really liked "Labor Days" and "The Impossible Kids" which are, for me, very good alternative hip-hop albums. Aesop Rock teamed up with master synthesizer Thomas Fec (Tobacco) to release a psychedelic rap album with the name "Malibu Ken". For a 42-year-old rapper, Aesop Rock remains one of the most important figures of indie rap. Very good production! Very good flow!

7/10

Best track: "Tuesday"

From LedZep 01/30/2019 22:37

Very enjoyably weird

From Lukeanaderdude 01/27/2019 22:16

First album of 2019 that caught my attention. A great piece of experimental hiphop.