Lice (Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman) - Miami Lice: Season Four (2026)

Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman return with the latest installment in their ongoing Lice series with Miami Lice: Season Four. This time around, Aesop Rock handles all the production, balancing moody synths with drums that range from stark and heavy to feel-good vibes with a bit of bounce. The opening track, "Who Sent You?" is a great example of the latter, and serves as an excellent foreshadowing of what to expect on the EP, a blend of humor, clever writing, and an abundance of style—qualities that reach their pinnacle when the two trade bars back & forth on standout track "Burnt Mauve". Through the course of its 8 songs, this project continues to prove Aesop and Sandman sound evermore natural together and make a great pairing. Tune in for Season 4, Lice is back!

Produced by Aesop Rock

Written & performed by Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman

Mixed by Joey Raia

Mastered by Joe Laporta @ sterling sound, NYC

Art by Jeremy Fish

Homeboy Sandman - Still Champion (2022)

Following a 19-stop tour, the incomparable Homeboy Sandman and MC/producer Deca come together to release Still Champion, a ten-song masterpiece brimming with positivity, deliciously soulful production and enough affirmations to move a mountain.

After first being introduced to Deca’s music back in 2020 via mutual friend Matt Diamond (who sent him the Colorado MC’s single “Clay Pigeons”), Homeboy went on a deep dive, eventually discovering “Fairburn” off of the mostly instrumental effort Forest Agates. This beat became their first collaboration, “All Because of You,” which dropped in January 2021. The song perfectly set the tone of what was to come.

The LP serves as a spiritual apex (something Sand notes he hasn’t felt close to since his 2010 effort The Good Sun), with a victorious tone as he once again finds himself creating from a happy headspace.

The unmistakable sense of connectedness is something Sandman directly attributes to Deca’s production and approach to songwriting, of which he counts himself a huge fan. Specifically, he praises how [Deca’s] music focuses on what one could consider truly meaningful. He doesn’t boast about how great or cool he is in his rhymes.

Homeboy is–admittedly–a much different artist, not one to shy away from injecting ego into his discography; however, they sonically connect like peanut butter and jelly.

The resulting influence from their musical partnership sees the New York rhymer remaining steadfast to an optimistic, grateful vibe, never wasting time on typical rap-isms or anything devoid of a message.

This is a pivotal project in Sandman’s deep catalog. It’s the end of an arc that began with 2019’s Dusty, an album he loved at the time but unabashedly considers the furthest depth he strayed from God. Likewise, in his eyes, the follow-up (2020’s Don’t Feed The Monster) served as a rock bottom. While there were signs of the hard work he’s put into his mental health apparent on his last EP There in Spirit (see the song “Feels so Good to Cry” as an example), with Deca’s curation in tow, he has now reached a point of feeling powerful again.

Having learned from faltering in different ways throughout his career—and life—this album delivers a powerful potency not felt or heard in past releases. Still Champion is chicken soup for the soul blended in a pot with the best Ted Talk you’ve ever heard. 

Produced by Deca

Mixed by Deca

Mastered by Alejandro Tello at Ampliphonic Studios

Cover Art by Mike McManus

Layout by Austin Hart

Executive Produced by Angel Del Villar II & Michael Tolle

Lice (Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman) - Catfish (Single) (2022)

Producer Cess Less creates a tranquil, almost meditative vibe with just a touch of mysticism – an ideal soundscape for Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman to deliver over three minutes of humorously witty societal observations and personal anecdotes.

Homeboy Sandman:

You’ll understand my sense of urgency

I be the cat that put “emergence” in emergency

More than a half a mind to save my whole community

I’m just not certain what something like that’ll do to me

Sandy’s on the mound and pitching for the home team

All the information’s listed on the home screen

Once I started ain’t no switchin’ out to plan b

Once I started ain’t no screaming out “it can’t be”

You can catch the bluest ribbon in the red sea

You can catch the true and living in the dead sea

Magic lingers while the fingers on your screen scroll

Please believe it you can read it in the sea scrolls

Fortune frowns on anybody out to take lives

If you’re considering a silly thing then take five

I am avid as I’m having me a great time

I’m aware you might have heard this through the grapevine

When I’m chompin on the bit it ain’t a bit dull

If you want it you can get it thru your thick skull

See I grew up on Atari playing pitfall

See I grew up on Safari of the brick walls

I’m a composite of many different aspects

I’m a undercover operative of aztecs

Bastion riding falcor tryna spot artex

Examining the outdoors for the spot marked X

Behind the wheel of True’s land cruiser I cruise land

Listen and you’ll hear it it’s the spirit that moves man

Picking out a jacket for hijacking a news van

Rappers don’t know diddley but me I’m a blues man

I be on it like I saw it with a bird’s eye

If it’s doable I done it on my first try

Breaker breaker peep the phantom about to break fly

Every bit of data fatter than a steak fry

Doin what I gotta to remain on the blacklist

Up until you find out that was only a catfish

Every other human come including an asterisk

Thank you all for snoozing now for using my last wish

Aesop Rock:

Pitched a few snow balls

Skipped a slew of rolls calls

Dipped into the sewer, grew his hair out like a troll doll

Blew the man-hole cover up to the sand bluff

Down to the river took a knee with my hands cupped

Man-Ape free to hydrate or be ambushed

The slant grow from “look at him go” to “heavens I can’t look”

King Upsetter, surely cursed be the name

Every word an urgent love letters bursting into flames

Editor-in-chief at the Bloodletter gazette

Every drip on the cement could fill-up another cassette, and does

Reaper knocking at me through the diner glass

Invite him in

Yes I know the die is cast, now try the grits

Let him get the check, and offer thirty seconds clear to run

It’s ten before he skip the other twenty on some “here I come”

Which way’d he go

Strafe and follow any trace of spirit gum

Mustache and glasses disappear into the zero sum

No road atlas only roads to Damascus

Where the roses are for growing not for throwing at some pageant

Y’all just pinning little ribbons on each other as catfish

Swimming in the chasm between what you publish and practice

I wake up every day and move different than I used to

Smarter than whichever bear’s assuming that you do too

Doozie after doozie, up and brushing off the lab coat

Cold bath, bo staff, back on his Max Roach

Tap into the tape gun, mail you back to Hasbro

Bring me to the big cheese, all I see is crab toast

All you see is parachutes raining from the matmos

All I see is parody and parroting and plateaus

‘Round here that’s pretty much a cousin to the flatline

I would rather level-up than fraternize with magpies

Patron saint of Isolation, heart of palm and graphite

Teaching kids to put away the crack pipe, that’s lice

Homeboy Sandman - There In Spirit (2022)

Homeboy Sandman has announced his new album There In Spirit on Mello Music Group. The Illingsworth-produced EP is scheduled for release on February 25th. Along with the announcement, Homeboy Sandman unveils the project’s first single, “Keep That Same Energy,” a gritty track about incessant fakery. Illingsworth’s production is bright and theatrical, setting a scene for Homeboy Sandman’s charismatic delivery as he encourages everyone to be themselves.

Since 2007, Homeboy Sandman has delivered timeless projects exhibiting his imaginative flows and thought-provoking lyrics. Over his long-standing career he has received critical praise from Rolling Stone, The FADER, XXL Magazine, Complex, & more. Pitchfork hailed him as “a prolific, technically gifted MC.” With his vast catalog, the Queens native continues to find new inspirations that make each project stand out from the rest. Homeboy Sandman’s new album There In Spirit carries a powerful message of individuality and self-actualization. For Sand, making this project was about breaking away from the mold, letting go of mediocrity and fear, and holding himself to a higher standard.

Following his acclaimed projects Don’t Feed The Monster, produced by Quelle Chris, & the Aesop Rock-produced Anjelitu, There In Spirit finds the Homeboy Sandman joining forces with Detroit beatmaker Illingsworth. Homeboy Sandman describes working with Illingsworth, “Illingworth beats are a particular, one of a kind, sonic energy, that my molecular structure responds to in a way it could never respond to anything else.” He continues, “Illingsworth is one of the greatest producers to ever live. Anyone who denies that is completely in denial.”

Homeboy Sandman’s new single “Keep That Same Energy” is out now. His new album There In Spirit will be available February 25th on Mello Music Group. Catch Homeboy Sandman on tour as he brings the irreplicable energy of There In Spirit to the live stage.

Homeboy Sandman & Aesop Rock - Anjelitu (2021)

"I wrote half of these songs when my energy was either headed in the wrong direction or already there. I wrote the other half while my energy was moving in a direction I'm more excited about, that I find to be more enriching. They're all still my songs though. My mother, and lots of my relatives, used to call me "Angelito." Little Angel. The taijitu is the symbol for yin and yang. Opposites that make a whole. Given the dualistic/duelistic nature of the songs on the record, put it all together and what do you get, Anjelitu." – Homeboy Sandman

All Songs Produced by AESOP ROCK

Mixed by Andrew Esposito, Mastered by Alejandro “Sosa” Tello, Cover Photography by Brandon English, Design by Mitch LaGrow

Executive Produced by Angel Del Villar II & Michael Tolle

Sounds Beautiful Like The Truth

Mello Music Group, 2021

Homeboy Sandman - Don't Feed The Monster (2020)

Homeboy Sandman’s new album Don’t Feed The Monster, is a collaboration with producer/MC Quelle Chris. It’s also his most vulnerable & poignant work to date. Having grown up in Queens, New York, hip-hop was part of everything in life. This deep-rooted connection to the culture is evident when listening to his style of rhyming- bold, classic & deeply respectful. On Don’t Feed The Monster, he pulls back any pretense to show his most honest truth - a process that he needed both artistically and spiritually. “I was having a hard time and this record saved me thank Quelle and thank God and shout to Gabor Maté,” he said about the new album.

Album producer (and guest vocalist) Quelle Chris has been one of the most talked about and celebrated hip-hop artists on the planet these last few years. Both producing & rapping, Quelle has released critically acclaimed albums like Guns, Innocent Country 2, and Everything’s Fine with his collaborator & wife Jean Grae. “There's a certain mystic/magical power in words, sounds, rhythms, etc. It's rare to come across a brother/artist like Sandman,” he says when asked about his new album with Homeboy Sandman.

The new album Don’t Feed The Monster is a marvel of how an artist can dig deeper still, even years into his craft. The chemistry between the producer & MC has unlocked something within Sandman, surfacing memories, textures & details in a more vivid way than ever before. “(We) wanted to project growth and not regression. Being careful not to feed the monster,” Quelle says about the mission of the album. One would be right to assume that bringing two elite talents together would yield an incredible album. But, when imagining what this album brings in its entirety, Quelle says it best: “raw, pure, organic magic."

ALL SONGS PRODUCED BY QUELLE CHRIS

VOCALS BY HOMEBOY SANDMAN & QUELLE CHRIS

MIXED & MASTERED BY ALEJANDRO "SOSA" TELLO JR.

COVER PHOTO BY ROBERT P. COHEN

DESIGN BY MITCH LAGROW

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY ANGEL DEL VILLAR II, GAVIN TENNILLE, MICHAEL TOLLE

SOUNDS BEAUTIFUL LIKE THE TRUTH

MELLO MUSIC GROUP, 2020

Homeboy Sandman - Dusty (2019)

Picasso claimed that the purpose of art is to wash the “dust of daily life off our souls.” Homeboy Sandman asks on Dusty, “Why would I complain when I’m alive making art?” In the course of his Mello Music debut, the Queens virtuoso answers himself with 15 soul-assessing confessionals that sweep the entropy and daily static, the distortion and psychic silt of modern life onto wax. This is sacred dust, alchemical practice to convert anxiety into the highest form of creativity. It is rapping ass-rapping rapped better than your favorite rapper.

Let Sandman tell it: the sound is dusty. These bars are his id. He’s not trying to save the world on this record or even save himself. These are the unmasked impulses and desires locked away for a long time -- some of them from before he ditched the legal world for decapitating mediocre MCs. On Dusty, he says “ I unlocked myself and let them out -- dusted them off -- for better or for worse.”

Of course, it’s infinitely for the better. This is a therapy session without coming off remotely indulgent. Sandman remains both the master carpenter and architect, writing verses with lapidary precision, inventing new flows and cadences at brilliant angles that no one knew could be found.

This is the latest chapter for one of the most storied underground rappers of his generation. A versatile talent who has checked every last box: Unsigned Hype in The Source, Chairman’s Choice in the XXL. Rolling Stone hailed his songs as dense and word-drunk, spilling past the margins, demanding repeat listens as he re-works rap forms and functions into something truly personal.” Pitchfork said that in the all-star game of the new subterranean, “he is the guy with flawless fundamentals, wearing his socks high and his cleats sharp and polished.” His solo catalogue is sterling and over the last two years he’s mastered the group dynamic in tandem with fellow legends Aesop Rock and later, a brilliant psychedelic slab done in union with Edan.

It’s all on display on Dusty. Pick almost any track and you’ll hear the synthesized fusion of four elements hip-hop and Jamaican toasting, Nuyorican flavor and an experimental dead bent to expand the parameters of language. When you listen to Sandman, you hear the echoing boom of the South Bronx park jams of Kool Herc, the avant-garde wild style of Rammellzee, the technical perfection of Rakim and Big Daddy Kane, the infectious jazz hymnals of A Tribe Called Quest.

Produced entirely by Mono En Stereo (formerly known as El RTNC -- the moniker used when he produced Sandman’s Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent), the beats rumble and snap, the basslines are rubber-thick and funky, the drums rugged as a butcher knife haircut. Sandman boasts the kinetic gift to tailor his flow to each, his voice an instrument in his own right -- able to switch between conversational and wrathful, debauched lothario and philosophically righteous. There’s “Far Out,” where he kicks off the album wondering if he’s better off living in Siberia, then references breakdancing on cardboard, the Never Ending Story, and how the smell of boiled eggs reminds him of the Queens Halloweens of his childhood. “Noteworthy” finds him suffering from insomnia trying to figure out which rules to break and risks to take. He proposes toasts for the spirits and ghosts and flips old MC Lyte lyrics into modern koans. “Yes Iyah” finds Boy Sand boasting about clutching mountains by the peak over a tribal polyrhythmic breakbeat, kicking a pyroclastic flow that would even make Black Thought offer a bow in tribute. There are raunchy sex raps and existential midnight of the soul wanderings alike.

It amounts to a clarion statement of purpose, the arena stepped into and all challengers vanquished. Rap containing multitudes and cosmic dust. Exact as a science, loose as an improvised spiritual.

Produced by Mono En Stereo

Additional Percussion/Production by Andrew Esposito

Recorded & Mixed by Andrew Esposito & Ryan Bress at Sung Moon Recordings, Buffalo, NY

Mastered by Alejandro "Sosa" Tello at Ampliphonic Studios, Queens, NY

Sounds Beautiful Like The Truth

Mello Music Group, 2019

Homeboy Sandman - Anjelitu (2021)

"I wrote half of these songs when my energy was either headed in the wrong direction or already there. I wrote the other half while my energy was moving in a direction I'm more excited about, that I find to be more enriching. They're all still my songs though. My mother, and lots of my relatives, used to call me "Angelito." Little Angel. The taijitu is the symbol for yin and yang. Opposites that make a whole. Given the dualistic/duelistic nature of the songs on the record, put it all together and what do you get, Anjelitu." – Homeboy Sandman

All Songs Produced by AESOP ROCK

Mixed by Andrew Esposito, Mastered by Alejandro “Sosa” Tello, Cover Photography by Brandon English, Design by Mitch LaGrow

Executive Produced by Angel Del Villar II & Michael Tolle

Homeboy Sandman - Go Hard [Beat by Aesop Rock] (Official Music Video) (2021)