Hradec is a city in the Czech Republic. I hadn’t heard of it until reading the title for Crimeapple and DJ Skizz’s new tape Breakfast in Hradec, but a few Google image searches in, I could easily picture myself enjoying pastries I can’t pronounce at a riverside cafe. Crimeapple has grown a cult following with this rare lyrical ability to paint visuals, and he’s showcased it over an impressive number of projects. Breakfast In Hradec is his third in 2022, and it’s a memorable one.

Crimeapple brings back the vibrant and grin-inducing braggadocio to the project along with some deep introspection. Across the nine songs he reflects on the addicts he used to serve (“In Flight”), his humble beginnings (40 Days, 40 Nights”), and discovering his talents as a rapper (“Wonder Years”). The vibe is served well by Skizz’s faithful boom-bap production, its vintage chops also sounding like transmissions from Crimeapple’s memory of something foundational. Whatever Crimeapple’s gassing himself up on, it’s working: on “La Lluvia,” he constructs an entire song using almost entirely nouns that begin with the letter “L.” That’s not easy to do, and it’s even harder to make it sound as good as it does here. Listen to the whole project below.