Dios Negasi's new single, "West Testament" featuring Blu, is all that in motion. This Chamber Music Ent / Reagan Era Records collaboration feels more like a family reunion than a feature, as two emcees who've walked the same cracked concrete since the early 2000s trade 16 and forever stamps.
Produced and performed by Dios Negasi himself, "West Testament" bangs with the showcased precision that West Coast confidence, backed by the golden age of drum breaks and thick-taped basslines, doesn't pull punches or fill space, it's just two writers marking their reliable place. Dios comes in clean and suave, while Blu emerges like a world-weary prophet with a flow of perfect favor. It's hip-hop for the heads, for which drum heads still bob and care what's said between the kicks, as you can hear years of craft etched into both artists' flows, mutual history honed in L.A. ciphers now raised to the spirit, a true testament.
"West Testament" is the latest mystic passage glimpsed from Dios Negasi's forthcoming "Black Violin 2" LP. If this single is any indication, the upcoming album will follow its predecessor with the same roughness that you immediately feel, and a soul pointing to the future. It's not a record that chases trends, but one with rhythm, roots, and respect.
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