Childish Major is a pace-making tastemaker whose career balancing a dualistic identity as an all-encompassing producer-rapper that supplies vocals as well has been an undeniable force on modern hip-hop artists prioritizing their ability to transcend styles and roles. He’s been writing, producing, rapping, and singing as a package deal since before we first stumbled across his collaborative effort with Rome Fortune, The Night a half-decade ago. Fresh on the heels of lending his Midas touch to Revenge of the Dreamers lll, he released Dirt Road Diamond. The album – his sophomore – is a vibrant display of his range and the reach that his beadth has granted him throughout his career. Featuring artists spanning styles and generations: Ludacris, Buddy, Olu (EARTHGANG), and Tish Hyman, it’s first and foremost and exhibition of just how boundless his own talent is, highlighted by the fact that everyone featuring on it slides seamlessly into its aesthetic.

 

Dirt Road Diamond is incredibly laid-back, thought-out, and produced in a kind of low-fidelity manner that hides just how complex and experimentally-oriented Childish Major’s compositions are. From top to bottom, it flows together without pause, floating under the radar as one of the most listenable and situationally applicable hip-hop projects of the year. Any fan of hip-hop and modern artist transcendentalism owes a lot to Childish Major, and Dirt Road Diamond is yet another underrated gift from the trendsetting genius.