This is the 4th EP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Bisk. Known for being a member of the Cult of the Damned collective as well as the duo Swamp Harbour, he would precede his full-length debut album Don’t Piss It Off! with Raw Sh!t under Blah Records as well as Free Morphine & Figaro3000 respectively. He recently put out the sophomore effort XXXX & has enlisted Lee Scott to fully produce Yasuke ahead of Gutter City, Cream Soda & Bsidegoose.
“Sensei” begins with a 93 second intro kickin’ back cold saggin’ swamp side over a nostalgic boom bap beat whereas “Nina” featuring Salar finds the 2 maintaining the dustiness instrumentally hitting us with a couple of hardcore verses. “The Art of Raw” continues the boom bap vibes rising up from the dead spitting blood with a gash on his head while “Ronin” ruggedly tells a funny muhfucka that shit ain’t a game to him out here since he stays ducking strays.
Salar joins Bisk again on “Tzunami” continuing the hardcore lyricism over jazzy boom bap beats while “Ravioli” advises against being caught slippin’ in the middle of the evening. “Sushi” featuring the Antiheroes & Milkavelli starts the deluxe run referencing Tuco Salamanca from my favorite show of all-time Breaking Bad & once the soulful “Kabuki” featuring Lee Scott advises not to push them swings they’re kinda crazy, the final bonus track “Noh” sends it off talking about robbing people if his music doesn’t sell.
Yasuke marks the 3rd solo project that Bisk has dropped through Blah Records succeeding Raw Sh!t & Don’t Piss It Off! respectively, surpassing both of them in becoming the Cult of the Damned’s greatest offering for the local label although he plans on putting out 3 more extended plays before 2017 ends. Lee Scott’s production is a huge improvement above Don’t Piss It Off!’s & lyrically, Bisk delivers some of his strongest performances in his individual catalog yet.
Score: 4/5
Legends Will Never Die 