As the primary producer for the Minneapolis-based alternative hip-hop crew Doomtree, Lazerbeak has been responsible for the bass-heavy beats heard behind rappers P.O.S., Dessa, and Sims, as well as working on tracks with D.C.’s own Wale. With hip-hop credentials like these, and Doomtree’s reputation for aggressive, punk rock- infused hip-hop, you might expect Lazerbeak’s first solo album, to be filled with club hits—some real “lavabangers,” as Beak has called them in the past. Instead, on the 10-track Legend Recognize Legend, Lazerbeak channels his inner indie rock star, crooning over acoustic guitars and heavy piano rhythms.
The album is a bit of a shock, like if RZA put out a solo album that sounded more like Beck than Wu-Tang. But it works. Drawing on his extensive production experience, Lazerbeak flaunts his ability to impeccably layer sounds. “Salt and Sea,” which features strings, synths, vocals, and his signature complex drumbeats, is a perfect example. He flexes his creativity further on “Land’s End,” which sounds like something off of Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak with its tribal bass drums.
The album’s sound is less brash than anything Lazerbeak has worked on so far. The imagery is softer than ever, with Lazerbeak singing about “the slopes of the silver stream” and recalls how “the summer ended and the frost started making us shiver.” On the track “Salt and Sea,” he describes his travels to the ocean floor to learn about true love and its innate hardships. Other tracks are lyrically darker, touching on death and the terrifying inevitability of the future. Nevertheless, Lazerbeak is ultimately optimistic. As Beak sings on “Land’s End,” “Hope will pull you upward, awake in the waiting sea.”
With Legend Recognize Legend, Lazerbeak has combined elements of indie rock, pop, and hip-hop, while completely ignoring genre conventions. This defiant refusal to confine his music into one genre has always been his M.O. as Doomtree’s resident producer. Listen to any Doomtree album and you’ll notice both the calm, melodious slow songs and faster, punk-influenced tracks. Legend is no different. It may stand out musically, but it’s still evocative of their complex, polyrhythmic sound. So, if Dessa is Doomtree’s poetic voice and P.O.S. and Mike Mictlan are its furious rebels, then Lazerbeak might just be their indie rock preacher, falling somewhere in between.
Voice’s Choices: “Bound,” “Land’s End,” “Salt and Sea”
