As much as I enjoyed it, there is only one moment on Dahm & Mashio's 2014 album Illuminati Shxt that I remember well, and it's probably not the one they hoped I would. One of the tracks ends with a solid minute of silence before the next one begins. That awkward gap pretty much sums up the Milwaukee rap duo's inattention to detail. They aren't the kind of artists who are going to concern themselves with such formalities as mixing and mastering or professional cover art. They aren't interested in pouring over every tiny sonic detail—or, for that matter, double checking the big ones. So what if there's a gaping white hole in the middle of their album? They came to rap, not to park themselves in front of a computer for hours on end. In an age where technology has enabled every zero-budget independent rapper to become a studio perfectionist, Dahm & Mashio cut against the grain by allowing themselves to be rough (very rough) around the edges.
This month the duo released a new single, "Bitche$," and like most of their work, it sounds like it was knocked out in an afternoon. This is rap music in the Ol' Dirty Bastard spirit, all raw impulse and no polish. Give it a stream below.
