A Toothpaste Suburb is the debut album from rapsmith Milo. Despite this being a debut he has previously released a number of EP’s and mixtapes as such he has an established style and sound. Milo’s rap style reminds me of early Anticon stuff, in particular early Buck 65 (who features on this new album). Milo’s delivery often sounds lazy and he’s clearly not trying to impress with his flows and techniques. With this relaxed style, his almost monotone voice slips between verses and choruses, delivering hypnotic dreamy lyrics. Milo embraces being a weirdo rapper but does so in an entertaining artistic way without just being weird for the sake of it. The lyrics are witty and honest with a comedic poetic style, there is not a lot of story telling, the often visual and descriptive lyrics weave together an overall emotion and feeling.

The production on this album is primarily from Igloohost and Riley Lake who have both worked with Milo on previous releases. The music is sparse and glitchy with very few big beats. I can’t imagine too many rappers fitting over this sound but it works really well for Milo’s style as well as with guest the rappers (in particular KOOL A.D. and Buck 65).

Having heard the first couple of singles before hearing the album I was not too excited for this album. I felt this the first time I heard Milo, I was not really sure if I liked his music but I kept wanting to listen to more. Having now purchased this album and listened to it all the way though a couple of times I have that same feeling. I am not blown away but suspect it will stay in my rotation for some time with plenty more repeat listens.