Album Review: Hallways by Homeboy Sandman

Homeboy Sandman doesn’t love independent movies. He just likes them. He’s not a total hipster. This realization, confided in “Problems,” marks a rare moment on the Stones Throw emcee’s latest full-length: it’s a confession that gets closure. On Hallways, rumination ranges from minutiae ….

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From the Black Hippy crew to the folks in the A$AP Mob, the 2010-2014 seasons of hip-hop have been graced with plenty of able artists who mix the traditional and the progressive, all of them hitting hard like Mobb Deep was their mom and dad while squandering none of the artful touches artists such as Nas, Talib Kweli, and the folks on the Stones Throw roster have added to the genre. Speaking of the Throw, Homeboy Sandman's second full-length album for the label comes on strong with the busy modern classical composition-fueled "1,2,3," featuring DJ Spinna on production. "Got heads turnin' like 'who he'/Streets don't want him around, he too deep/The deep don't want him around, he too street" says Homeboy, describing himself and his ilk, but it's "This ain't about the payroll people, I got peace" that separates him from the smart and sullen competition.

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The Great Rap Jiggy vs. Backpack Civil War of the late '90s and early '00s didn't have a clear winner, but there were certainly a few martyrs. Chief among them was the independent New York label Rawkus Records. More than anything, Rawkus represented a refuge for the rap nerd, a place to enjoy rapping for rapping's sake, beats that really only worked in a pair of headphones and room for progressive ideas.

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