This weekend, The Underachievers walked away from their usually psychedelic strain of hip-hop to deliver in a change of pace by way of their BrassTracks-produced After The Rain project.
The effort is considerably lighter and offers a much more grounded sense of reality than their previous catalog, albeit impressive.
This shift is heard from the first moment with project opener “Downpour” as AK and Issa wax poetic about their own personal struggles, maneuvering away from dependency on substances as a means of dealing with their issues.
“It’s more of a relatable project. We’re all on the same page with you guys, experiencing the same things, and this is how we got through it,” AK recently told Complex of the project’s subject matter. “That’s what we’re expressing on the project [...] The whole industry is on some negative vibes shit, so I guess we just wanted to stray away from all of that and put that positive input and just a different way of looking at things."
He adds: "I feel like the music we’re making now is a reflection of how we’re feeling right in this moment, too. This isn’t what we were doing like seven years ago with psychedelics. Now we’re dealing with our problems the way we deal with them now, so we’re expressing that new vibe to the fans to let them know what to do."
Quotable Lyrics
I see addiction, we switched to pop prescription, instead of usin' syringes
I've been smokin' on the tree and convinced myself that it's different
Though we set the mind free, I must admit that I'm addicted
Depend on a substance to handle everyday wishes
I can't even go to sleep without puffin' a little blesses
Hope to make my niggas strong and break them out of depression
