Prhyme - Prhyme 2 [2LP]

PRhyme 2 sticks to the rule the whole project runs on, DJ Premier building an entire album from one composer's catalogue alone, this time trading Adrian Younge's gothic soul for the more orchestral, melodic material of AntMan Wonder.

The first PRhyme record set the constraint deliberately, a genuine handicap for a producer famous for sampling from anywhere and everywhere, forced instead to mine a single source. This 2018 sequel keeps that discipline but changes the raw material entirely, and the shift is audible, richer and more melodic than the debut's darker textures, giving Royce da 5'9" a different palette to write over. Seventeen tracks deep with guests ranging from 2 Chainz to Rapsody to CeeLo Green, it never once feels like the constraint is limiting the guest list's range, only sharpening the production underneath it.

Era brings in Dave East for the album's lead single, Premier's chops giving the track real bounce. Respect My Gun pairs Royce with Roc Marciano for one of the record's most menacing verses, and Loved Ones features Rapsody delivering some of the album's sharpest writing. Made Man closes with Big K.R.I.T. and Denaun, a genuine posse cut that never loses focus despite the crowded mic.

Two rap veterans proving the constraint sharpens rather than limits them. One producer's catalogue, endlessly reworked into something entirely new.