Themselves

"Fuck all this singing shit," proclaims Doseone on "Party Rap Sucks," which begins like any of his typical late-era indie flirtations, until his outburst transforms the song. Dose and guest rapper Busdriver proceed to rock raw raps over slamming beats, a feat Dose and many of his old friends successfully accomplish all over this mixtape, with a big assist from the production half of Themselves. Jel lays down bottom-heavy beats with thick bass lines and stuttering drums, adding a few samples here and there. The stripped-down beats are perfect for Dose's return to rap — they're hard enough to punctuate his cocky battle raps but weird enough to suit his abstract poetics and elastic delivery. They're also handcrafted to the needs of each of the many guest MCs, all of them in top form, whether it's Buck 65, Sole, Aesop Rock, Slug, Serengeti, Lionesque, Pedestrian, Yoni Wolf (of WHY?) or the above-mentioned Busdriver. Anticon hasn't come this fresh since Themselves were still just Them, and if this mixtape is any indication, their proper full-length, Crownsdown, coming this fall, should be off the chain.