Cult Detroit art rapper-producer Denmark Vessey has a reputation for spitting dense, literate rhymes on eerily imaginative beats. He’s looking to keep that streak alive with his upcoming EP, Sun Go Nova, and its Knxwledge-produced title track, released today through Mello Music Group.
The beat is right in Knxwledge’s soulful wheelhouse, with a moody sample full of horns, bird tweets, and coolly rattling snares laying a perfect backdrop for Vessey’s jittery, rapid-fire rhymes. Denmark warps and contorts his vocals and delivery, slinking and sliding and skipping all over the laid-back beat with hyperactive energy — probably inspired by the Ethiopian coffee he claims to crave at the end of the song.
Sun Go Nova, the EP, features five tracks produced by Knxwledge and Earl Sweatshirt and featuring guest appearances from Chicago rappers Adad, DrxQuinnx, and Vic Spencer. It also contains a companion beat tape as a bonus, with nine original beats by Vessey himself.
The EP was recorded simultaneously with Buy Muy Drugs, Vessey’s collaborative tape with Open Mike Eagle, in Chicago, in what he calls “grueling 48-hour marathon increments, where sleep was a secondary concern.”
“For lack of a better word, it’s alternative and left-field,” Denmark says of the project. “It’s not light substance-wise, but light in that I want people to think of it as a treat, a little instance of coolness, a flash in the moment but not to be forgotten.”
Sun Go Nova is due April 20. The tracklist for the album and the bonus SGN Beat Tape can be seen below.
Sun Go Nova
01. “Zzzzzz” (feat. ADAD / prod. Earl Sweatshirt)
02. “Trustfall” (prod. Earl Sweatshirt)
03. “Stolat” (prod. Knxwledge)
04. “Sun Go Nova” (prod. Knowledge)
05. “Sell Out” (feat. DrxQuinnx & Vic Spencer / prod. Earl Sweatshirt)
+ SGN Beat Tape (prod. Denmark Vessey)
06. “Intro”
07. “Morning”
08. “Halal Avocado Toast”
09. “High Noon Titan”
10. “Rush Hour”
11. “Primetime”
12. “Quiet Storm Jam”
13. “Wax Wane Tears”
14. “Tomorrow Again”
