Lice (Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman) – Who Sent You?
Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman have been making Lice EPs since 2015 — three of them in quick succession, then nothing for nine years. “Miami Lice: Season Four” dropped this week via Rhymesayers Entertainment, and it’s the longest one yet at eight tracks, all produced by Aesop. The gap hasn’t dulled anything. If anything, they sound more locked in.
“Who Sent You?” opens the EP and sets the tone immediately. Aesop’s verse runs on that familiar hyper-referential warp — MKUltra, shrinky dinks, Basquiat clones, Moroccan argan oil in the same breath — while Homeboy Sandman takes the second verse somewhere drier and funnier, riffing on rent hikes, internet addiction, and blue whales on his coattails. The production under it has that lively, low-end bounce Aesop’s been getting better at — bass guitar, head-nod drums, nothing overcooked. What caught my ear is how naturally the verses coexist without either MC adjusting their register to meet the other. They just both do their thing, and it works.
That chemistry is the whole point of Lice, and it’s been there from the start. The two became close when Aesop brought Sandman on tour in 2015, and the surprise self-titled EP that came out that same year was an immediate hit in underground circles. “Still Buggin'” followed in 2016, “Triple Fat Lice” in 2017, and then a long stretch of solo work, a 2021 MF DOOM tribute, a 2022 one-off single, and now this. Eight tracks, roughly half an hour, no filler. “Burnt Mauve” is the other standout — the two trading bars in quick succession — but “The Burgers” (exactly what it sounds like) and the drumless closer “Evolution” both do something unexpected.
Aesop handling all the production keeps it cohesive in a way the earlier EPs weren’t always. The beats move between brooding synth textures and funkier boom-bap grooves without feeling scattered. It’s a tight, well-paced record from two people who know exactly what they’re doing together. Nine years is a long time to wait, but “Miami Lice: Season Four” is the kind of reunion that makes the wait feel beside the point — which is exactly why it’s here.
Tracklist:
- Who Sent You?
- Uh-Oh
- Moving Day
- Burnt Mauve
- The 1
- Homework
- The Burgers
- Evolution
