Denmark Vessey – Sun Go Nova

Limited Edition Yellow & Black Sunburst Vinyl!

B-Side with Bonus "Sun Go Nova" Beat Tape

Like most truly original artists, Denmark Vessey defies easy understanding. He’s a Detroit rapper and cult rap hero currently living in New York City, named after a brilliant 19th century slave-turned-carpenter who was convicted and executed for planning what would’ve been the largest slave revolt in North American history. He’s funnier than most political rappers, more political than punch line spitters, and too imaginative for regressive underground stereotypes. 

It’s all readily apparent on his latest project, SunGoNova, a breezy exercise of warped soul and eccentric raps produced entirely by Earl Sweatshirt and Knxwledge. The record cohered on a whim not long after Earl proclaimed that you needed to buy Denmark’s Martin Lucid Dream if you needed food. 

In a few breaths, Denmark has the capacity to come off as street-wise and sarcastic, pop culture fluent but stand-up comic self-deprecating. These are the same qualities that led Rolling Stone to call Martin Lucid Dream one of 2015’s best rap albums, while hailing his “sharp sense of humor” and introspection. Pitchfork glowed about how Buy Muy Drugs revealed that in “his own unique way, [Denmark] is pushing us to look beyond the veil and to not take things at face value.”

As the album fades out, Denmark’s demanding coffee with Ethiopian beans, but the listener is still wide awake, wanting more. It’ll arrive soon enough.