Illa Man

British rapper Illa Man steps away from his rap/metal band Flict to present The Holy Moley, a 48-minute album of dark, grimy beats composed of minimalist drums and plenty of wacked-out, spacey sound effects. In other words, the beats are ready made for getting faded. And listening to Illa Man’s lazy, relaxed flow, he’s probably already done so. With a thick accent, nasal flow, and a light-hearted, self-deprecating swagger, Illa Man delves into the struggles of the starving artist with tracks like "Hungry” and "Funds.” On "Another Stormer (Miss My Love),” he introduces some singing to the mix with both male and female vocals on what is essentially a black comedy love song. While Illa Man isn’t a bad singer, it’s much more impressive when he lets guest singer Roxy handle the vocals, especially when she gets her chance to really flex on "It Gets Darker.” However, the best moment on the album is when producer W. Pine of production team GM Baby, responsible for all 14 tracks here, breaks the mould set up throughout The Holy Moley by upping the tempo quite a bit for "B.S.A. (British Spit Association),” which forces Illa Man out of his comfort zone and into high-speed rapping territory, thereby creating a great backing track for those nightmare sequences where you run and run but don’t seem to get anywhere. Which reminds me, I think it’s time for another bong hit.