Hip hop may be the most challenging music genre to tackle, consequently making it the most critiqued. Sure, anyone can put a rhyme together, but can you make it clever? Can you make it original? Can you not only give your fans something they can nod their heads to, but also a piece they can relate to? I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of turning on the radio and listening to a mess of catchy beats accompanied by elementary lyrics that realistically could have been put together by my kid brother. Don’t get me wrong, I can get down to almost anything, but every once in a while I find it necessary to dive into something innovative and substantial. Enter Sims!

This emcee from Minneapolis has been perfecting his craft since high school, which is when he met then-local producer P.O.S., from whom he would buy off beats so as to lay his rhymes over them. The two went on to work with various other artists in their area, growing their crew in numbers and talents, and eventually forming the unreckonable hip-hop force known as Doomtree.

Musicians/producers/emcees involved in the project include Dessa, Paper Tiger, Cecil Otter, Mike Mictian, Lazerbeak, and the already mentioned P.O.S. Although the artists have created and put out music together, each individual has also released various works through the years highlighting their own separate creativity and talent. Just earlier this year, Sims released the album Bad Time Zoo, in which he took us through his most personal thoughts, theories, and foresights. Now he’s back, continuing his lyrical journey with the newly released Wildlife EP.

The six-track album is musically RIPE, a set of well-developed, mature thoughts expertly woven together and ready for the listening. Sims’ delivery is effortless, and the cool, confident beats put together by Doomtree’s own Lazerbeak, who produced the album, add to the album’s smoothness.

“The Lighthouse,” my personal favorite track, is an honest outlook on love and all it involves without resorting to the common (and overplayed) I-can’t-get-you-out-of-my-head approach. “Here I Stand” has a harder, almost forceful sound that will satisfy any beat-hungry listener. The accelerated rapping, not to mention the gospel choir accompaniment playing in the background, will get your blood flowing, and dare I say it will leave you with a sense of empowerment and a ready-for-anything mentality.

This is music worth listening to over and over again. It’s the kind of hip hop I fell in love with, the kind of lyrics that get you thinking, and the kind of beats that get you moving… essentially the kind of fusion that makes you FEEL something. Exploring this album evoked the most diverse emotions from me. Listening to it once is simply not enough! Like any good rap album, the verses are complex and many… it took me a few replays to really grasp how quick-witted these tracks are. A piece of advise…turn the radio OFF, if only for a moment, and download the Wildlife EP just to remind yourself of what real hip hop sounds like!

… and stay tuned because Doomtree’s new album No Kings drops on Nov. 22!

For more info: Official Site