I’ve been a fan for years, but these first tastes of the album are getting me hyped more than I have been about Clams Casino in a long while. Clams actually crafted the title track of last year’s brilliant Summertime ’06, helping to vault that Staples record deep into my best of 2015 list. In addition to ethereal first track Blast, the album is going to feature contributions from A$AP Rocky and Vince Staples. It might feel weird, but it’s a good twist to this ongoing legacy.Ĭlams Casino has been one of the most low-key brilliant producers working in hip-hop for a few years now, so it’s incredible seeing him finally dropping a full debut album, 32 Levels. Part of his appeal was the ramshackle production values of those first mixtapes, the 96kbps mp3 releases, the vocals sounding like they were recorded on a phone. To be honest, it’s a little bracing to hear B so far down in the mix, featured in a well-mastered track. While it’s not his most original rap, his flow sounds tighter than ever and it’s matched with one of the crunchiest beats Clams has ever dropped.
As one youtuber put it in the comments, “the based god gained weight because he been eatin wack rappers since day 1 real talk.” I can’t disagree.
Lil B looks like he really beefed up since I last checked in on him.
