Thumbs cover

Thumbs

Released

From Project Blowed to P.O.S., Busdriver’s found himself in nearly every single corner of art-minded hip-hop from the ’90s onwards, the kind of advantage you get when you’ve got an extremely distinct voice that can still mesh with collaborators practically at will. With a voice capable of hyperspitting turbo verbiage at impossible cadences, Busdriver’s not only unafraid but totally geeked to take alarming yet effective turns into cosmic surrealism. Thumbs is deep into his career, but it’s also the best entry point into his discography, as the group-effort beats (including Mono/Poly, Kenny Segal, and Jeremiah Jae) and mic-wielding guests (Milo pre-R.A.P. Ferreira and Anderson .Paak post-Compton) reveal that he’s finally found an abstract hip-hop world that’s caught up with him — to everyone’s benefit.

Nate Patrin

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