Rating: NNNN
Thunderheist were blessed (cursed?) with a huge amount of hype quite early in their career that propelled them into a busy schedule of touring long before they were ready to drop their full album. We were a bit worried that their club-ready booty-rap would be passé by the time it came out, and that it would be tough to stretch tracks in what’s essentially a singles-based genre into a full album.
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Many would argue that hipster-hop has already reached the end of its life cycle, and they have a point. (Is Uffie still around? Does anyone care?). Luckily, Thunderheist are a very different beast from their early competitors. For one, Isis is not a trust fund brat taking the piss but an actual MC with real hip-hop history and skills, who, in between throwaway odes to ass-shaking, manages to tell some stories and flesh out some characters. That, coupled with Grahm Zilla’s versatile approach to beat production, puts them far ahead of the pack.
Top track: Red Whine
Thunderheist hit the Phoenix April 30.
