Oakland, CA’s Demahjiae joins a platoon of others to solidify his music as part of the ‘jazz-tract hip hop’ sub-movement within the ever-expanding and progressing underground scene. Demahjiae’s new album And, Such is Life presents another insightful and calming rap album that succeeds when it really gets introspective and wild. While the greatest strength of this album is the intimate lyrical content, the production starts embracing jazzier samples and some bright and sunny elements.
Thematically, this album does a good job of displaying an array of topics such as blackness, knowledge, emotion, family relations, and plenty of more introspective aspects of the human experience. At 16-tracks in length, the track placement carries a more introspective arrangement, one in which Demahjiae gives the listener insight into his life experiences, exposing his psyche, and what makes him the artist and individual he is. With features from Navy Blue, Pink Siifu, Michael Sneed, and Zeroh, Demahjiae gliding through the cavernous beats with his rapping rather than laying on top of it, many satisfying details will catch your ear.
Hip Hop fans and many newcomers will find intrigue in Demahjiae’s inventiveness, providing a new aesthetic to a genre that on the surface-level, seems already well-established. Immediately gratifying, consistently soothing, I’m in awe. This is what more hip hop records this year should strive to be. Stream the new project down below via Spotify.
