Review: Small Bills’ ‘Don’t Play It Straight’

Ten tracks into E L U C I D’s Valley of Grace (Backwoodz Studioz, 2017), the rapper declared that “nothing’s broken, this is how it’s supposed to run” on “Talk Disruptive For Me”. At that point in the EP, if the listener did not know that he was talking about systemic racism, they had not been paying attention. Inspired by a trip to South Africa, it is a powerful reaction to turbulent times. The beats, produced entirely by the artist himself, had a grim futuristic tone that fit the subject matter perfectly. Three years and several albums later, he is still musically evolving. If only the world moved at a similar pace – “Talk Disruptive For Me” and the rest of Valley Of Grace can still be applied to the present. On Don’t Play It Straight (Mello Music Group, 2020), E L U C I D and producer The Lasso’s debut under the moniker Small Bills, those lyrics have morphed into “nothing broken here – just the way it work” on “Moses Was A Magician.” The song is deluged in distortion and has frantic electronic energy that is unlike anything E L U C I D usually raps over. 

The best collaborations are greater than the sum of their parts. The goal is to form a deep understanding to be able to reach new heights, and this is exactly what happens throughout the fourteen songs of Don’t Play It Straight. It’s impossible to tell that this is the first time E L U C I D and The Lasso have worked together. E L U C I D’s style has never been conservative, which is what makes the level of liberation in Small Bills so remarkable. Undeniable chemistry has pushed both artists into new dimensions. 

Small Bills has tapped into unique energy. As E L U C I D moves through the past and looks towards the future in “We Don’t Really Need Altars,” it’s clear that he is inspired: 

Circling to the center of a boiling core  

Iron and ore 

Plate shift 

Thoughts and form were forged 

We heard about Haiti 

Came a mighty long way, how to raise a free black baby

On “E.T. Diamond,” the power of the synergy of Small Bills is on full display. A sinister synth that runs behind Koncept Jackson’s blistering verse is briefly removed for space and bass as E L U C I D’s deep voice enters the fray. The transition perfectly matches his cadence and puts the rapper on a platform, which he proceeds to dominate with an excellent verse. It’s the type of decision making that shows that The Lasso is highly aware of E L U C I D’s sensibilities. 

Small Bills immediately let the listener know that they are in for something special. It’s a safe wager that there is not a large number of rap albums that begin with tracks as radically different as “Safehouse” and “Sometimes Care Looks Like Leave Me The Fuck Alone.” “Safehouse” opens proceedings with afrobeat and reparations, while “Sometimes Care Looks Like Leave Me The Fuck Alone” is so dark and spacey that it sounds like it’s from another planet. The instrumentation of Don’t Play It Straight is diverse, punchy, and impressive. Much of “Sunchoke” feels as if it comes from a distant future, yet Small Bills is still able to smoothly transition into a beautiful passage of hazy jazz in the end. “Banneker’s Almanac” has another superb progression as its submerged atmosphere is set alight with a piercing guitar in the final minute. 

“Sunchoke” and “Banneker’s Almanac” are just as compelling lyrically as they are instrumentally. E L U C I D has a knack for complex rhymes that linger in the mind and demand repeat listens.  He is frequently quotable in “Sunchoke,” where he finds that “Some people can’t stand silence so they fill the room with lies.” “Banneker’s Almanac” works in interesting juxtapositions that could be alluding to the dangers of complacency in an ever-threatening world:

I only felt scared when I found no fear in me 

The illusion of safety and the fear of security 

Passive conspiracies

In “Holes In The Air Caused by Light,” the emcee jokes at those who are just now realizing the nature of the threat, which in this case is anti-blackness: 

Thorn in my side, my physical form is torn and bled 

For whose eyes perform

Black body political storm in time of transition

A marvelous ride – ya’ll got woke I went fishing!

The high-quality lyricism of Don’t Play It Straight would be mind-boggling if E L U C I D had not already released some of the best verses of 2020 on Armand Hammer’s Shrines.

A keen sense of rhythm and melody is key to the success of Don’t Play It Straight. The album features KAYANA on five tracks, and her lovely singing is integral to the mesmerizing vibe of the album. Fielded’s gorgeous voice drops in on “Sunchoke” and “Safehouse,” with her vibrant performance in the latter making it an addictive song. Some of the album, like “Safehouse” and the crisp funk of the bass and drums of “Falling Up,” grooves to the point where it is hard not to nod along. Small Bills does a lot of things on this album – it can be industrial, twist in abstract ways, navigate tight rhythms, and embrace psychedelia – all of it is captivating. Don’t Play It Straight is an essential listen for those who like their hip-hop poetically brilliant and boundlessly creative.

Don’t Play it Straight is available now.