My daughter finally convinced me to give Lil Darkie a chance.

She’s been a fan for a bit, but I’d avoided giving him much thought and haven’t listened to much else he’s done. The guy has, not surprisingly, had his fair share of controversy. His cringeworthy name and Little Black Sambo-inspired cartoon avatar are obviously shock value attempts (both of which have well-known history and meaning, whether he acknowledges knowing about them or not), but I’m going to try and put those aside for the moment so I can talk about his newly released USD as a standalone album. I’m going to refer to him by his last name, Hamilton, for the remainder of this post because my old ass is just is not comfortable saying/writing that word.

The opening track, “THE STATE OF THE UNION,” grabbed me. Dude was going in, with few fucks given:

Fuck a Nazi, My choppa hit him right between thе eyes
They turn us on each other, It’s your brother you despise
Kanye West can suck my dick until he dies
I’m on a mission to murder corrupt politicians, Nobody wanna listen, 
Too busy arguing vision and dissin' one another to make a noticeable difference

The politics of his music are what you might expect from someone in their mid-20s looking to make noise: boisterous, generally well-meaning, offensive, and angry. But don’t expect to find nuanced solutions to complex problems here. Here’s the thing: with how tepid protest music seems to have been in the last ten years, there’s room for some basic, cathartic anger on record. As we’ve seen with hip-hop in the past as well as punk and folk, that catharsis can also end up leading listeners to productive and active social movements.

The first half of the album, set apart by titles in all caps, largely features Hamilton playing the role of the archetypal Southern white supporter of the current president. The production is mixed, ranging from meh to a little above-average. And though the personas sometimes hurt the overall vibe for me, I cannot deny Hamilton’s pen game. He has a handle on complex flows and lyrical structures, but doesn’t overdo it. Sometimes he goes the complete opposite way, using the redneck role-play as an opportunity to spit ultra-simplified bars to balance things out.

On the second half of the album, where the titles are all lowercase, Hamilton conjures the spirit of Woody Guthrie with surprising effectiveness. And it’s not like he’s hiding the inspiration given that he closes the album with a cover of “This Land Is Your Land.” While I appreciate the variety we hear in his music, I’m not sure Hamilton has his own well-being in mind releasing a song called “when is someone gonna do it,” which comes off as what Guthrie would sound like if he co-wrote a barely more subtle version of Paris' “Bush Killa.”

The most effective of the Guthrie-inspired tunes is “tear the fascists down,” which could easily become a new modern protest anthem at colleges and universities:

There’s a great and bloody fight
Around this whole world tonight
In the battle our bombs and shrapnel rain
Donny told the world around he’d tear our Union down
But our Union’s gonna break them slaver’s chains
Our Union’s gonna break them slaver’s chains
I went up on a building in the middle of the sky
I can see every farm and every town
I can see all the people in this whole wide world
That’s the Union that’ll tear the fascists down, down, down
That’s the Union that’ll tear thе fascists down

I’ve been listening to hip-hop for 40 solid years. I’ve lived through multiple “golden eras,” revere the legendary emcees and producers of the 80s and 90s, and have definitely found myself feeling like the old, irrelevant dude when forced to endure one trap or no melody beat after another. But, in general, I listen to new music with an open mind. Every Friday, I’m digging into new releases and seeing what catches my ear. I find a lot to like, especially when it’s from someone who clearly knows their music history.

All told, while I’m generally impressed with what I hear from Hamilton, I’m not going to say I’m a total convert (though, based on the reviews I see online, I liked USD more than most people). I am glad to hear proof that this generation is staying angry, getting creative, and continuing to break musical boundaries.

(But there’s still no chance I’m ever going to understand the appeal of ian. I’m not sure anyone over 30 could, honestly. Sorry, daughter of mine.)