Review Summary: Oh Billy, Billy boy, when are you gonna find whatever it is you're looking for?
I'll be the first one to admit that I am not familiar at all with either Billy Woods' or Elucid's material previous to listening to
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. I had no clue what to expect from either MC nor what kind of production I would encounter. Oftentimes hip-hop albums can have a few good tracks and then trail off into mediocre nonsense over way too long of a time period, usually well over an hour in length.
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips does not have that issue.
The best part of this album is definitely the production. El-P and others have crafted together some of the most minimally creative beats I have ever heard. Billy and Elucid's gruff voices flow in and out of the heavily glitch influenced production, telling compelling tales of poverty, goverment corruption and life as a black man living in this America. Even with the experimentally simple, albeit catchy and trippy, beats providing an almost uplifting and airy tone, Billy and Elucid still have the rough sound of two street dudes from New York that sound like they're pissed at the world. The way they trade off verse for verse amidst the cyclone of "bleep blooping" glitchiness going on behind them is impeccably done and still represents the more "hood" side of both of them.
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is quite simply one of the coolest and catchiest modern hip-hop albums I've heard in a long time. It's simple yet deep. It makes you get lost in the sea of lush beats all throughout its runtime and Billy and Elucid don't overstay their welcome with the album clocking in at just about an hour. There's no pointless skits or interludes included. Just 60 minutes of compelling storytelling and production that will have you drifting away into a futuristic sounding abyss. If you prefer your hip-hop on the experimental side with some actual meaning behind it, listening to
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. It will be a decision you won't regret any time soon.
