Sy ShacklefordThe duo of Lice (Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman) has released three projects since 2015, most often as free downloads. Have made their respective marks in the underground hip-hop scene, the two New Yorkers have continued to challenge listeners with challenging beats and lyrics that are even more so. With “Miami Lice: Season Four”, don’t be fooled by the cover. While the art parodies a television show that became a pop cultural staple in the 1980s, the music doesn’t follow suit. An eight track EP with production entirely handled by Aesop Rock, the music has heavy synth-bounce energy ranging from skeletal to funky. And the lyrics? The usual dense, wordplay-laden stream-of-consciousness rhymes that’s pretty much their stock-in-trade.
Opening with “Who Sent You?”, the simple bassline and drums are as playful as the lyrics. Aes starts things off with his verse and a brief hook. Though he drops clever boasts like “Big galoot, I don’t win or lose / I’m in a different game, I won’t list the rules”, Homeboy Sandman gets the win. His flow is better and despite some listeners claiming a monotone, I don’t hear that in this track. He gets bonus points for dropping this gem: “Won’t speak the jive / I’m so woke I’m sleep deprived”. “Uh-Oh” has both emcees taking turns in rhyming three eight-bar verses each back & forth. On “Moving Day”, Aes layers the production with reversed synths bent into melody as he takes full reign over this track’s mic duties.
Sand gets to do a solo track as well on “The 1”, where he prefaces most of his bars with “the one”. On his solo tracks on Lice albums, Sand’s wit is heavily understated. The snares, kickdrums, and sonic backdrop of “Homework” all evoke the atmosphere of old school video arcade parlors. Once more, Aes and Sands are trading verses where they chin-check biters. “Burnt Mauve” the best produced beat on the EP, complete with echoing water-drop snares and organ samples. Instead of eight bar verses, Aes and Sand do four bars this time, with each one feeling like improved braggadocious freestyles. Sand’s line “Surging with the arrow or the spear / My listeners got cauliflower ear” is as crafty as the production:
Lastly, “The Burgers” is mostly an Aesop Rock track with him doing two verses and a hook while Sand solely handles the final verse. The piano samples throughout the track add to the unease of the topic, with both men using hamburger patties as metaphors for how people knowingly consume the worst things for them. The lo-fi sci-fi sounds and guitar strum samples on “Evolution” work well for the lyrics, especially those of Aes: “I was born in New York, I’ll retire in the stars.” Though both men came up in NYC’s underground scene, that scene has undergone evolution as well (such as moving past terms like “abstract rapper” or “backpacker”). But Lice has evolved as well, releasing albums such as “Miami Lice: Season Four” that come laced with complexity, challenging the listener to decipher without adding on to said complexity.