Subaru Boys: Final Heaven [LP]

Nigerian multi-hyphenate Cruel Santino (fka Santi) delivers his sophomore album, Subaru Boys: Final Heaven. A 21-track conceptual album (co-produced by Santino), the project is broken up into multiple arcs, each with it's own theme and navigator, guiding the listener through a sonic tale of war and glory. Joining Santino on this epic adventure are the project's special guests Skepta, Amaarae, Koffee, and Gus Dapperton plus a slew of new music darlings from the auteurial "Subaru" world. Written across continents, the first half of the project squarely taps into the Alté and Afrobeat lane (with songs like "Matilda" and "Swagger Back"), Cruel also lends himself to sample from recent Grime resurgence on "The Pearls." While the latter half is influenced by more modern genres heard on "Fallin" (which leans R&B) and "Beautiful Nothing" (draws from bedroom pop sounds with a little help from collaborator Gus Dapperton). Gliding through genres and musical inspirations, Cruel taps into many references to create a body of work that is both cohesive and aims to please many listeners.