P.O.S.
We Don’t Even Live Here
(Rhymesayers Entertainment)
www.doomtree.net
It had been a little while since the last album from Minnesota’s P.O.S but, like all the best artists, the wait was well worth it. His new album, ‘We Don’t Even Live Here’, is the natural progression from its predecessor, ‘Never Better’, seeing the rapper embrace the electronic side of music that he loves whilst maintaining his punk rock ethics, melding them into another powerful statement against authority.
From the opening track Bumper, where fuzzed distortion and thunderous drums smash through the speakers, Stefon Alexander lays down his values – “They on some nonsense, we on some non-stop”. He loves his family, his crew and his friends, he hates being told what he should do and how he should live within walls and his lyrics get right to the root of the problem. His greatest triumph on this record however is that he delivers his ideas without becoming a preacher, it’s not tired and it doesn’t feel like you’ve heard it all before.
There is plenty for hip hop heads to get involved with too, ‘Fuck Your Stuff’ reps his crew brilliantly on a ridiculously big beat, ‘Wanted/Wasted”s beat has a classic Doomtree sound and the stripped-down ‘Lockpicks, Knives, Bricks and Bats’ could easily find itself on earlier P.O.S. albums, sonically speaking. The variety never stunts to flow of the record either, the Bon Iver assisted ‘How We Land‘ is the standout track and ‘Get Down’ three-quarters of the way through the album is as big a dance track as you’ll hear all year.
We love P.O.S., always have, always will and when he drops albums like this, it’s hard to see that ever stopping. The chorus line from Get Down sums it up perfectly:
“No-one gives a fuck about shit, so fuck your shit, we fuck shit up cos shit’s fucked anyway, shit is run into the ground (I know right?), I don’t wanna think about it, I just wanna get down”
So what are you waiting for? Get down then!
Abjekt
It’s been over three years since P.O.S dropped his last album, the superb Never Better but he’s been a busy guy. Not content with making his own records, Stefon Alexander has been involved with his crew Doomtree’s last album, the brilliantly titled group Marijuana Death Squads and guests spots for artists as eclectic as Gayngs and Dark Time Sunshine, so we can forgive him for taking his time over the new album.
