The aim of this post is to push you toward checking Yaphet, Curly Castro’s latest project from Philadelphia’s indie scene. Usually a post’s headline would simply note that the album exists. But readers might be more enticed by a headline featuring a raft of underground rap names. In fact, Yaphet opens with a colossal six-minute posse cut that sounds like the Backwoodz Studioz Avengers assembling, so that becomes the headline. That’s just the internet’s logic.
Curly Castro is half of ShrapKnel and has long been part of the Backwoodz orbit. He stands as a larger-than-life presence with a raspy, throwback flow and a magnetic aura. Yaphet is his first solo release in five years, and Milwaukee beatmaker Locust handled the entire production, mining uncleared samples from classic rap and reggae records. On my initial listen, I’ve spotted dozens of X-Men references and a sample lifted from the absurdist battle rapper O-Solo.
The opening track “Black Don’t Crack” packs in a flood of instantly recognizable breakbeats, bending subtly as each of its seven MCs steps up. The star-studded lineup includes Fatboi Sharif from New Jersey, Blueprint from the Def Jux circle, the hungry Baltimore rhymer Brian Ennals, SKECH185 who splits Brooklyn and Chicago, Seattle veteran AJ Suede, and label head billy woods. I only had to look up a couple of those names, which feels like a small victory. Listen to the track below.
Meanwhile, here’s the video for Castro’s new single “Railroad Spikes,” which may or may not sample the score from Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
But really, the point of this post is to have you listen to the complete record, so hit play below and dive in.
Yaphet is out now on Backwoodz Studioz.
