Download: Sene “EyeCry” (produced by GODlee Barnes)

(from A Day Late + A Dollar Short out now on Shaman Work)

The newest LP from Brooklyn emcee Sene introduces the first full-length production efforts from the Los Angeles emcee known as Blu, aka GODlee Barnes. And that can be scary—sometimes when one emcee produces another, you worry that there will be no real continuity between tracks, no thematic framework behind the beats and rhymes. But A Day Late & A Dollar Short has real focus, showing a thoughtful and concentrated effort by both Sene and Blu to make this album about exactly what the title implies: survival and hunger. Now those themes are nothing new to the hip-hop world, but refreshingly, Sene recollects his experiences without the brash sense of entitlement found on other hard-knocks hip-hop albums. His lyrical style is very much a New York one—story-focused and well thought-out. This blends well with the Dilla and Madlib-style beats of Blu, who incorporates clever dialogue throughout the tracks, my personal favorite being the Big Lebowski sample at the end of the track “EyeCry: TheBefore.” This album doesn’t have a regional feel; it’s simply smart, concise, and keeps the head bumping, which is all that anyone can or should want from a hip-hop effort.

—Gabriel Aguirre