Experimental Irish rapper Dudewithswag is a man of many names; king flora, craic boi mental, sulk boi, oscar benzo, and many other aliases. But what all these aliases have in common is his idiosyncratic, DIY style and his excellent knack for sampling and making beats. The end result? An excellent fusion of good production and a punk rock-esque genuineness.
DWS's 2016 effort "Dreamland" is no exception, and is my personal favorite album of his. It starts out with his iconic sleepy ad-libbing and soon he goes into a heartfelt verse about how he's here to save hip hop. The beat definitely fits the title of the album. It's a perfectly chilled out vibe.
Despite DWS's clear talent, haters gonna hate, and in the next song he addresses just that to an upbeat soulful beat. His deft lyricism projects a message of confidence in spite of adversity.
But sometimes, even rap icons need to have some fun, which he notes eloquently in "Put It In her ass". And with a beat as fresh as that one, he truly is a dude with swag.
After he put it in her ass he had to wash his hands with dish soap, speaking of which, the next song as about that- "Nothing Can Compare to my Fairy Liquid is a certified love song, detailing his intimacy with his favored brand of soap. It has a nice outro too.
DWS is also an environmentalist, as shown in "Save Our World... But even DWS can experience heartbreak, which he discussed in "Broke my heart so bad".
After his heartbreak, he fell into a long sleep on "Always Stay Asleep". This is one of the best beats on the album.
Next up is a remix of his famed hit Mr Poloman, another great song. And then there's the closer track aptly titled "Realest Freestyle Known to Man".
Last but not least is the instrumental closing track, a vaporwave remix of "Human" by The Human League. And while DWS may be only human, he's a hip hop legend in my book. 10/10
