We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

Appearing on a label other than Backwoodz Studioz for the first time, Armand Hammers Fat Possum debut We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is a heavily collaborative effort, with an extensive array of guest rappers and producers including El-P, DJ Haram, JPEGMAFIA, Pink Siifu, and Black Noi$e, among many others. It also features a group of live musicians who met for the first time during the albums sessions, including revered London jazz figure Shabaka Hutchings on flute and Hisham Bharoocha (Soft Circle, Kill Alters, ex-Black Dice) on drums. Even with the presence of musicians like Hutchings and marimba player Jane Boxall, the album doesnt end up sounding much like jazz-rap. The tracks are fractured and atmospheric, with glitchy, decayed rhythms backing billy woods and ELUCIDs intense, knotty lyrics, which are often dystopian and laced with dark humor. The funky, polyrhythmic "The Gods Must Be Crazy" (with El-P) and haunting, nearly ambient "Woke Up and Asked Siri How Im Gonna Die" (with JPEGMAFIA) are two immediate highlights. "Yall Cant Stand Right Here" is wigged-out psych-rap with an MF DOOM sample and guest appearances by Junglepussy and Money Nicca (Soul Glo). The warped slow jam "Total Recall" references both Tricky and Sun Ra, and "Empire BLVD" sinks into the abyss via a heavy, enticing dub rhythm. The woozy vaporwave crawl "The Key Is Under the Mat" ends the album with the foreboding message "That security deposit aint coming back." We Buy Diabetic Test Strips feels like a step forward from a duo whose discography has been consistently innovative from the start. ~ Paul Simpson