Cadence Weapon – “88” P. Grimes

Canadian microphone destroyer Cadence Weapon is here with “88”, in which he does lyrical somersaults over a dark, tech-y Grimes-produced beat. While he flexes his considerable vocabulary and waxes nostalgic about hip-hop’s first glory days, the beat snarls and lurches through some sinister sci-fi terrain. Feeling much longer (in a good way) than the relatively brief 1:42 it covers, “88” is a sharp, lucid commentary on how things have changed since back in the day. Name-checking Basquiat and Debbie Harry and lamenting the impurity of modern hip-hop motives, Cadence Weapon’s rapid fire flow hangs all over Grimes’ frightening synth flourishes, demonstrating why the Edmonton-bred rapper and the Montreal-based producer are both shoo-ins for the All-Canada team at the next hip-hop Olympics.

Stream the track below.