Bishop Nehru - Magic 19

Pitchfork 59

Accepting DOOM as your mentor is a gift and a curse. There’s barely a young rapper in the world who wouldn’t want the super villain playing the Palpatine to their Darth Vader, but he hasn’t crafted one of rap’s deepest mythologies by being easy to predict. The 2014 joint album with teen protege Bishop Nehru, NehruvianDOOM, was a break for the young New Yorker, but the final product suffered from a lack of care. The regurgitated Special Herbs beats, slight running time and limited on-mic appearances from DOOM himself reflected his patchy interest in the project, and he’s since retreated to his hidden underground lair, plotting the next move in his malevolent masterplan. Meanwhile, Bishop, still just 19 years old, has been left exposed to the rising levels of hype surrounding him.

The union with DOOM had looked good on paper. Bishop deploys the same complex rhyme patterns as his hero, while early mixtapes saw him jack beats from DJ Premier and J Dilla, solidifying his status as a new-age guardian of the old school. After signing and splitting from Nas’ Mass Appeal label, the stakes have been raised to seemingly suffocating levels. “I hate expectations, they ruin every single thing that I think of doing,” he rapped on last year’s single “User$.” With his debut album perpetually delayed, maybe it’s all come too early for a kid not yet old enough to know what it is to step in front of a liquor store counter without sweating under the collar.

Magic 19 sees Bishop abandon the block to blast off into another galaxy. Mostly self-produced, the 11 tracks move towards a more disorienting sound, full of ethereal synths, skittering drums and lots of dead space. Bishop sounds like he’s rapping in an outer orbit, alone on board a starship made up of aluminum walls and alien technology. “Sacred Visions” is as graceful as a gravity-free float around the cosmos, while the gritty “He the Man,” built around a two-note piano riff and sledgehammer drum beat, bears down with claustrophobic intensity. Stripped back to the bare elements, the atmospheric orchestration hypnotizes.

Elsewhere, though, too many of the beats feel overcooked. Sounds rattle around each track, bumping into each other pointlessly. “Cake Up,” an out-of-place look back at Bishop’s childhood, is hampered by a grating key riff that tugs the thing earthward. The abrasive, totally unmusical collage “I Know (Angel Of My Dreams)” sounds like the young producer trying to test the outer walls of his new style.

Cut through the failed experimentation and Bishop still has skills in the booth. The nimble dexterity of his thickening voice is more impressive than ever as he relentlessly crams his bars with syllables without losing rhythm. Here he adds a creeping paranoia to his style that reflects the schizophrenic beats. Opening two tracks “Did I Find It” and “It’s Whateva” sees him brush more dirt off his shoulder than a 19-year-old ought to have. He spits venom in all directions, calling out haters, phoney rappers and tastemakers who’ve missed him “off their list like I ain’t been lyrical for half a decade.” Talk of forces actively invested in his demise sound fearful and suspicious.

While NehruvianDOOM suffered from a lack of interest from its overseer, Magic 19 could do with an experienced hand on Bishop’s shoulder to help harness his gifts. The beats are sloppy, the rapper’s voice struggles to carry a memorable hook, and too many of the song concepts, like the thin ode to his girl “You Should Know,” fail to make an impact. Bishop’s strengths are all on show, but it’s going to take a little extra to funnel them into a great project.