The third sturdy release in six months from this weeded-out New Orleans wordsmith is simply more casually compelling hip-hop from the dude who does stoner rap better than everyone else. Further separating Curren$y from similarly hazy underground types, though, is his impeccable taste in beats (“Televised,” “Still”) plus a slow-burning intensity. “I could kill a man, but I’d rather kill a bass line,” he half-threatens on “This Is the Life.” Even for-the-ladies track “She Don’t Want a Man,” with its noirish story-tellingand near-New Age beat,is far from crossover.
