Dropping a bomb on fans by delivering another free release on their website, Death Grips return with their signature brand of psychotic experimental rap with their independently released Niggas on the Moon. Conceptually, the album sounds great on paper – a seamless flow of eight tracks featuring samples from Bjork, as well as being half of a two-part album the act intends to release dubbed The Powers That B. However, despite all efforts to sound interesting, Death Grips have only proved with Niggas on the Moon that not everything on paper is as good as it seems as the album winds up being the unfortunate product of failed experimentation.
The best track the album has to offer is debatably Billy Not Really. The track creates the polar opposite of anything Death Grips have previously released with an oddly vibrant, fast and warm sounding song, sewn together with clever use of Bjork’s voice as she warbles between the beats.
However, outside of this there is little saving grace. Points of the album have frustratingly irritating use of the Bjork samples, which detract from everything else going on. The use of these samples evoke feelings comparable to being tortured through waterboarding or being stabbed in the ears with pins repeatedly, with the equally unlistenable tracks Have a Sad Cum Baby and Fuck Me Out really adding that Guantanamo experience to the album.
The problem with Niggas on the Moon is that Death Grips have decided to replace their good ideas with terrible ones. Outside of Billy Not Really, the one redeeming feature that Niggas on the Moon brings to the table is that they couldn’t possibly wrap up The Powers That B with a worse album – fingers crossed.
BY THOMAS BRAND
Best Track: Billy Not Really
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