Bandana Review

Sequels to beloved pairings usually disappoint by playing safe. This one goes the other way. The beats are louder, busier and stranger than the first record's, with more switches, more sampled chaos and much less of the dusty warmth, and it forces him to rap harder simply to stay on top of them. Crime Pays is a bright loop and a flow that keeps rearranging itself. Half Manne Half Cocaine flips into a second half that is one of the best rapped ninety seconds of the decade.

Palmolive brings in two guests and neither embarrasses himself, which given the standard being set is an achievement. Practice is the quiet one. What it lacks is the first record's cohesion, because the beats change so often that the album never settles into a single space, and the writing repeats a few earlier themes without deepening them. As pure rapping it may be the best thing he has ever done.