"Tha Low" [ft. Slayter and Danny Brown]

Brooklyn rapper DonMonique is unmistakably dark on "Tha Low", a bass-heavy song with a beautiful minor key piano loop. Produced by Stelios Phili, the song is rightfully reminiscent of golden era Wu-Tang—DonMonique says "C.R.E.A.M." inspired its beat—a fitting environment for Monique to spit some classic drug rap (even if she, personally, doesn't "serve no more, bookin' shows off the flows"). She's an efficient MC, with subtle internal rhymes and no unnecessary embellishments: "Got grams for ya mans, is you buyin' or what?/ Got bands off demand from supplyin' the clucks."

Danny Brown's second verse is the absurd foil to DonMonique's deadpan delivery. Brown's prowess comes from his ability to go in several directions with his verse and somehow bring it all together. He may start by "smokin' Scooby Doo, the Rubik's Cube of the vocal booth," but he ends up burying you alive "somewhere in the Serengeti," with his irresistible honk unifying his thoughts. Slayter follows with a sinister third verse as the beat breaks down, before DonMonique returns to whisper her hook on the outro: "Keep it on the low." Her swagger is palpable, terrifying, and intoxicating from "Tha Low"'s beginning to its end.