IceMantis EP

After a solid week of blasting the new IceMantis EP—from Dumate MC D.L.O. and producer Man Mantis—it’s safe to conclude that the Madison duo isn’t driving around blasting 93.1 Jamz with the windows down. In fact, the EP plays out like a game of sonic whack-a-mole, except the moles are the bling rappers of tomorrow’s cutout bins and D.L.O. is wielding a flaming sledgehammer.

The EP kicks off with the swirling, synth-powered “Analyze This (Remix)”—a brainy challenge aimed at the hedonistic saccharine of mainstreamers like Soulja Boy and Shawty Lo. “Bein’ intelligent means you a sucka / Bein’ wild as hell means you a smart muthafucka? Wrong!” Spits D.L.O. in the track’s chorus. Listen a bit further and he seems to be taking aim at gangsta rappers that toss off the obligatory ballad about “getting out of the game” that’s usually sandwiched between studio drive-bys; “You talk that bullshit diction but never do shit / You just an undercover, conservative revolutionist / You yellin’ change, but talkin’ ’bout financial gains while communities is in a strain, lookin’ at you strange.”

On another album standout “OMW,” D.L.O. joins forces with hip-hop veterans Dee Rail and Count Bass D to rap on the art of, well, making a living—and for D.L.O., supporting a family. “I work really good with the kid’s mathematics and the reading / Make sure she got it all up in the attic.” The tune is backed by an infectiously out-of-step, neo-soul groove from Man Mantis, who actually gets out the producer’s chair to lay down some couplets on EP closer “Focus Or Fold.”

Finally, D.L.O.’s smooth East Cost flow is paid a visit by the wits of Dumate’s other MC, Dudu Stinks, as he leaves his wordy marks on the guitar-laden pops of “Infirmary,” “Focus Or Fold,” and “Burnitup.” The IceMantis EP is a cohesive and thoughtful affair. It’s also the greatest testament since Dumate’s 2009 effort, We Have The Technology, to just how grotesquely underrated this crew is on both a local and national scale.