It appears as though reclusive early 2000's rapper, producer, and cold-cuttin' DJ Edan has finally decided to re-emerge from his self-imposed sabbatical and unleash his first batch of new material since 2009's "Echo Party" mixtape; Edan recently contributed production work to old sharp-tongued friend Mr. Lif's long-awaited comeback single of sorts, "Whizdom," as well as Homeboy Sandman's newly unveiled Kindness for Weakness album teaser, "Talking (Bleep)." Sandman's latest Stones Throw Drip can likely best be described as a Hip-Hop-laden amalgamation of pop culture's beloved, often over-used "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH" filler phrasing for drab, long-winded, unnecessary, etc. conversation we're often subjected to throughout our every day lives – be it Ke$ha's chart-topping No.1 single, Charlie Brown & The Peanuts' "WAH, WAH, WAH" diction substituted for adults talking, or Seinfeld protagonist Elaine Benes' vague "yadda, yadda, yadda" catchphrase seemingly used in place of sexually explicit details. Homeboy Sandman & Edan's modern day take on said terminology, however, would appear to lean more towards Charles Schulz's playful, kid-friendly rendition. "Yo, I was riding my bike down the bike path / Going the wrong way, but who's to say what the wrong way is... Along comes this chick, like "you're going the wrong way, mister" / In her brain, she thought she was an authority figure / Even though she was a b*tch, I still thanked her with kindness / And was like, "thank you, miss," despite the fact she sounded like this [WAH, WAH, WAH]" is just a brief example of the dense multi-layered, yet incredibly approachable, language that can be heard inter-woven throughout "Talking (Bleep)" and for that matter, nearly all of Homeboy Sandman's post- Stones Throw material.


However, on the other hand, Sandman's outer-label free associative collaborative work is just as jarring; his painfully brief Blu-produced America-sampling homeboy sandman is the sandman EP, Beastie Boys-evocative Lice EP recorded with buddy Aesop Rock, or impenetrable one-off with one time touring mates Das Racist, "I'm up on that!" Rhymesayers' crowned veteran emcee Aesop Rock, as a matter of fact, just announced a sprawling 38-date tour supported by none other than Homeboy Sandman and Hail Mary Mallone member Rob Sonic behind his upcoming album, The Impossible Kid; in honor of his befittingly-titled Impossible Kid Tour announcement, Rock unleashed an impressive 56-bar "freestyle" over Pusha T's neck-snapping Timbaland-produced "Untouchable" to Pigeons & Planes just Tuesday afternoon. I'm really hoping to catch Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman at Philly's own Union Transfer on the 6/11 stop of their forthcoming trek and with any hope, they'll perform a few choice cuts from their rather infectious (haha get it?) an critically-acclaimed Lice EP. Aesop Rock's The Impossible Kid and Homeboy Sandman's Kindness for Weakness will be released just one mere week apart on 5/29 and 6/5. Although, for whatever reasons, Sandman's impeccable Pace Rivers-directed stop-motion "Life Support" video-single won't appear within Kindness for Weakness. Stones Throw have however, to my own personal delight, decided to resurrect one of Homeboy Sandman's former hard as nails non-album loosies from last year, El RTNC-produced "Nonbelievers;" "[it] was inspired by Phife Dawg's line on "Award Tour," "nonbelievers you can check the step."