Blue Sky Black Death

If you haven’t yet heard sometime-Wu-Tang-Clansman Holocaust rap, imagine Forest Whitaker on acid spewing images from science fiction, the Nature Channel, comic books, Greek mythology, Westerns, horror films … the list goes on for one of the most lyrical artists working in hip-hop today. San Francisco production duo Kingston and Young God, a.k.a. Blue Sky Black Death, stay mostly in the background, laying down shimmering synth fills, strings, horns and whatnot over minimal beats for a soothing counterpoint to Holocaust’s often disturbing lyrics—or, as he refers to his words, “the spirits of mythical serial killers turned physical.” If the album suffers from any weakness, it’s the lack of any exit from the bleak world Holocaust creates. But perhaps there isn’t one.