Celestial Clockwork

This record is one of the best and most important music experiences I’ve had with the genre ever and I desperately want to share how excellent Celestial Clockwork is with all of y’all.

I listened to this project off of a ginormous whim, it all started because I really enjoyed Illogics verses from Aesop Rock projects and it had made me a fan enough to want to hear this work. The man really doesn’t have the kind of following he deserves nor the streaming numbers that people would give him if he wasn’t more talked about. Illogic is a great rapper, he’s from Ohio and do with that information what you want because this album is so abrasive and off putting that you mightn’t even like this thing if you aren’t versed in Abstract Hip-Hop.

As long as Celestial Clockwork runs there is a microscope focus on storytelling within practical scenarios that a person stuck in an urban environment might encounter. First Trimester is about a young couple struggling with a teenage pregnancy dilemma and working out together what they will do. It switches between their internal monologues to narration and dialogue, songs like Stand and Lesson in Love do the same just as well too. I’m so drawn to Illogics raps because of his more palatable wordplay than his colleague Aesop Rock and how he makes up for it in his rhymes that use excellent metaphors or imagery to convey things in a fantastic way.

Upon the runtime there’s a complimentary blend between straight forward writing that isn’t overdone but can be just as effective as his more impressive pen ship displays like what we see within I Wish He Would Make Me. Illogic selects beats that sometimes sound like they were made from with their sometimes simple structure, I think that even some Aesop fans will have a hard time liking these instrumentals just because of how left field they are even if he is pretty much adjacent in style.

1000 Whispers is one of my favourites because of its hypnotic crescendoing that just makes for the perfect mirror to Illogics delivery and tone. But an example like Hollow Shell (Cash Clutch) might be one of the most unorthodox and awkward beats to ever fuck my brain but it is SO CHARMING and fun to unscramble, something about the novel of the topic fits it so well because of the ugliness in both concepts. It’s a bit like two negatives make a positives to me.

One or two aspects of the LP are a bit of a sore thumb like the hooks becoming a tad bit boring by the time Live to Die comes on because they all seem to have the same layered vocal strategy that can only work a handful of times. The choruses never have bad writing though and really hold their ground, I wouldn’t call them catchy but nothing about Celestial Clockwork really is but that’s part of its charm. From what I can tell My World uses an interpolation of Across The Universe but I’m not sure who the cover is by. It’s the weakest cut to me with some good rapping but an out of place sounding chorus and instrumental. Out of the praises I can hand this album this is my only BIG problem.

Stumbling upon this release was really easy thanks to this websites showcase of the user’s highest rated releases of every year, if it wasn’t for that I would have never bothered with it. I’m really grateful for the time I gave this album because I got so much out of it and am a fan of another underground rapper now. People will tell you to listen to this and that every single day, we are always trying to share music on this website, but if you think you know the best of the best Conscious Hip-Hop and haven’t heard Celestial Clockwork then YOU’RE DAMN WRONG! Do yourself a favour today and take a chance on ILLOGIC.

This album kicks ass.