Busdriver

Busdriver's new album, Jhelli Beam, begins with the assertion: "Be real, conscious rap failed us." But Busdriver was never really a conscious rapper, per se. He would rather conjure an impressionistic wall of words than dish dialectics, and, on his sixth studio album, he shouts, snarls, raps over "Turkish Rondo," references Vladimir Putin, Faulkner, dark matter and corporate entitlement. It's a linguistic assault and battery, and Busdriver raps faster than most people can think. It's also a bit of parlor trick -- an inkblot test that is funny, alienating and captivating.