Today UK’s Ruane Maurice — a band which The BBC describes as “awesome experimental hip-hop” and that Obscure Sound hails as “one of the most originally intoxicating hip-hop hybrids you’ll hear this year” — release their self-titled debut album Ruane Maurice via Brooklyn’s Stars & Letters Records.
A brooding, introspective, and avant-garde take on hip hop, Ruane Maurice is a dark and twisted album that “wipes the floor with the mainstream UK Hip Hop industry”. They are rawer than Ghostpoet, whiter than Dels, easier to understand than The Streets, and quite a bit more British than Shabazz Palaces. From the heaviest and most impacting bars, to the collectively penned rapid-fire lyricism, writes Eclectic Collective, “Ruane Maurice are taking on the responsibility of leading UK hip hop into a new musical future.”
Their first single ‘Nomenclature’ premiered in June via Noisey, while PopMatters and Eclectic Collective premiered their second and third singles, Farne and Peaked, and last week IMPOSE premiered the exclusive album preview stream. A BBC live-to-air is planned for this month and the band is touring the UK from September through November.
The album is available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and just about everywhere else.