Tampa, Florida emcee Sleep Lyrical making his Dirtcore Music debut with his 3rd studio LP. Known for his M.S.B.K. series of mixtapes, he discography further includes the Watch Me Work EP followed by the debut album The 12th Hour & the sophomore effort Broken Hearts on My Face. Coming off M.S.B.K. 6 last summer, Sleep’s looking to switch it up by giving the underground what they ain’t used to hearing from him getting a lot off his chest throughout the course of Broken Hearts on My Face 2 coinciding Valentine’s Day.
After the intro, the first song “Stay a While” produced by Crossworm is a somber trap opener suggesting that you shouldn’t be making any promises to him if you’re gonna fold whereas “Dealing With” featuring Senorita Sin finds the 2 talking about making it through this rough patch. “Trying Not to Fall” soulfully fights against the fog in an effort of saving his shine just before “Ease My Mind” get rid of the pain by smoking it all away.
“Back To” shows more of a hyphy influence instrumentally talking about initially thinking he was done dealing with all these broken hearts leading into “Hole in My Heart” talks about focusing on himself & still falling apart. “Circles” goes for a trap vibe to the beat feel like he’s moving around in circles some days, but then “Mission by Myself” eerie talks about being alone with his thoughts.
As for “Might Go Crazy”, we have Sleep Lyrical openly discussing the possibility of him losing his mind that’s already on the brink of sanity while the syrupy “Insignificant” shows a romantic side to him. The song “Fight” featuring Samson Samson gets aggressive over a dusty boom bap instrumental while the trap-rock fusion “Roll Alone” talks about rollin’ by himself. “Let Me Down” wraps up his Dirtcore debut talking bout the only thing he needs is his partner next to him.
The homie Rone Bone of The Beneath the Dirt Podcast was the one who put me into Sleep Lyrical several years ago & for his first album on Dirtcore Music, the sequel to Broken Hearts on My Face surpasses it’s predecessor. A personal catharsis, Sleep works through the trauma of betrayal, the death of his ex & the closure he never got from years of toxicity over some of the strongest production that I’ve ever heard him on.
Score: 9/10