Joey Valence & Brae are an MC/production duo from State College, Pennsylvania consisting of 2 friends meeting during their freshman year at Penn State University. Introducing themselves off their debut EP The Underground Sound to moderate reception, these guys’ debut album Punk Tactics would eventually go on to earn more positive reception & the sophomore effort prompted me to hear it since it quickly became amongst the most celebrated hip hop releases of this summer.

“Bussit” comes straight out the gate with both of them naturally going back-&-forth with each other over an instrumental that feels reminiscent of the Beastie Boys feeling like WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg the way they be toastin’ the most but after the dustily raw “Packapunch” featuring Danny Brown references the machines used in the Zombie mode of Call of Duty, the jazzier title track finds the pair talking about living like it’s double XP weekend.

EDM & hip hop cross paths with one another on “Like a Punk” suggesting that all the cool kids in the bus head straight for the back since the time to rave is now whereas “Where U From?” suggests for women to not speak to them since they’re doing it for attention over a beat combining nerdy, hardcore east coast hip hop with boom bap, mid-school hip hop & hardcore breaks.

“The Baddest” featuring Ayesha Erotica on the remix was a humorously boastful Miami bass/crunk single asking who the illest ones in the club are now that they’ve pulled up to the spot themselves & once “OK” returns to the boom bap with a mid-school spin to it talking about how they stay getting it going on, “Doughboy” featuring Terror Reid finds the trio looking to get some bread of their own.

Moving on from there, “What U Need?” brings the EDM influences back in full effect boasting about them being more fly than Baby Keem prior to the rage-inducing big beat single “John Cena”homaging the 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion of the same name. 

“Omnitrix” concludes the standard edition of No Hands giving their props to the Discovery Global-owned Cartoon Network series Ben 10 while “Pineapple Fried Rice” starts the deluxe run referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair.

Hardcore hip hop, mid-school hip hop, breakbeat, nerdcore & Philly club rap all get combined into the single “Can’t Stop Now” talking about them preferring to brawl than melee as a nod to the Nintendo-owned Super Smash Bros. & the final bonus track “Freaks” advises anyone who didn’t come out to party to hit the bricks so any outcast or outcasts like them can dance.

Forcing you to be confident in yourself and do things simply because they make you happy, Joey Valence & Brae’s comparison to the Beastie Boys becomes increasingly justifiable by entering their funnest era so far. Their versatile production although rooted in boom bap & mid-school hip hop throws hints of electronic dance music, hardcore breaks, Miami bass, crunk, jazz rap, big beat, rage, breakbeat & Philly club rap in only 38 minutes evenly balancing hardcore & nerdcore subject matter in a creatively distinct manner.

Score: 4.5/5

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