themselves

Themselves belong to the Anticon collective and craft underground hip-hop whose lyrical intricacy echoes the confounding poetry of Doseone’s parallel project cLOUDDEAD while avoiding that group’s ambient textures. Originally joining forces as Them, vocalist Doseone and producer Jel issued a self-titled full-length in 2000. Reborn as Themselves, the California duo issued The No Music in September 2002, an ambitious yet largely flat release intended to subvert hip-hop conventions. A remix version titled No Music of Aiffs appeared soon afterward, together with the This About the City Too 12". Following six relatively quiet years, the group resurfaced in 2009 with theFREEhoudini, a mixtape featuring Aesop Rock, Busdriver, and Odd Nosdam among its guests. Their third full-length, Crownsdown, arrived that October.