Sleep: All Men Must Die, But You First [Album}

The man is back! Back with a god damned plan at that. Yes, the golden child of Cincinnati is back with a brand new album that will blow your mind. Our man Sleep brings back his old school meets new poetry sound on All Men Must Die, But You First. In a business that has become so saturated with absolutely garbage, it is such a breath of fresh air to hear an actual lyricist spit over eclectic and energetic beats. I say this with absolutely honesty, there is NOTHING to hate on this album. From the concept of the songs, to the delivery of Sleep’s signature flow, it’s an overall perfect album. My only complaint is that it’s not 437 tracks long, but obviously that would be unreasonable.

It’s almost impossible to pick out one singular track to highlight, as they whole album as a concept is absolutely incredible. But, if I really felt the need to showcase one singular track, it has to be “Church with Grandma”. What an honest and deeply touching song that speaks nothing but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It’s a track that defies so many stereotypes as well. As of this writing, I honestly can not remember hearing another hip hop artists, a black hip hop artist anyway, speak so diligently about being a non-believer.

I sit here and try desperately to find some sort of simile to use to describe Sleep, but’s not really possible. His style is so specific. I will say that he is sort of like the Bill Burr of hip hop. Not that he is telling jokes (although, if you follow the cat on Facebook, you’d think he was a professional comic). It’s just his delivery of truly powerful and truthful statements that make him so incredible and at the level of talent that Burr is in the comedy world. And All Men Must Die is definitely his best work to date. After about 6 or 7 listens of this incredible album, I’m pretty god damned certain I can say with total honesty: Sleep is a force of nature that just cannot be stopped, and has a talent that could take him in any direction he may choose. Fact.

You can pick up the album HERE, on a pay what you want scale. Throw in some cash people! It’s worth a million bucks, so you can through in at least five.

Check out this video for “Ima Be Famous”: