• Courtesy
• Freddie Losambe, The Leaves Still Dance

(Equal Eyes Records, digital)

The Vermont hip-hop scene is a strange construct: a collection of stylistically diverse micro scenes, united by the sheer fact of existing in such a sparsely populated state. While hip-hop in the 802 is cross-generational, younger rappers have been making a lot of the noise of late, from former 99 Neighbors rapper Conswank to North Ave Jax to Obi the Voicegod to Rivan. The young MCs have injected the scene with much-needed fire, along with a swaggering exuberance.

Which makes the curious case of Freddie Losambe even more intriguing. The South Burlington-based rapper, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist has been quietly dropping emotionally complex, lyrically profound and sonically pristine records for more than a decade. A tour through his Bandcamp discography reveals the trove of a savant, with folk records, Christmas music and alt-rock peppering Losambe's prodigious hip-hop work.

Estates of the Realm, Losambe's first album on local hip-hop label Equal Eyes Records, raised eyebrows around the state in 2022. A thoroughly adult work full of spiritual longing and cutting political commentary, the record revealed Losambe as one of the area's most innovative producers. He followed it up with the daydreams & folly EP, full of big beats and funk leanings — and songs inspired by Don Quixote, of all things. No one in Vermont, in any genre, is making the kind of music Losambe turns out.

His latest, The Leaves Still Dance, doesn't just continue that bold originality but reinforces it. With a title taken from the Congolese proverb "Even without drums, the leaves still dance," Losambe's new LP is a staggering entry into the annals of Vermont hip-hop, easily one of the most original records produced in the Green Mountains.

The Leaves Still Dance is a soundtrack to a mind on hyperspeed, bouncing from 59-second song sketches such as the boom-bap funk of "Uncle Ray Ray" to the dark, churning auto-tune jam "Buenos Aires (ft. Eugene Tombs)."

Throughout the record, Losambe welcomes a host of fellow Vermont rappers, including Mavstar, FOZ., Wombaticus Rex and Omega Jade. There isn't a weak verse in the bunch, as each guest MC digs into the veritable sonic feast Losambe has laid on the table.

As skilled a producer as Losambe is, his true power is storytelling. The Leaves Still Dance plays out like a chaotically beautiful trip through a journal, the free-flowing thoughts of a man considering God, his wife, his family and ancestors, even death — all with grace and humor. When he gets heavy into his flow on tracks like "Stardust," he's all but untouchable.

"Which one of y'all double parked on my spot, blocking blessing from taking off / Only believers blue sky walks with wife and time at the cross," he raps over the lo-fi, jazz-leaning backing track, his low-pitched voice snapping into the rhythm like a boxer hitting the bag.

The song blends seamlessly into "Clay Face (ft. Omega Jade & Stresselbee)," showcasing what is perhaps the LP's most surprising attribute: For all of its dizzying eclecticism, it's still sequenced perfectly. Losambe uses the medium of a long-play album to paint a vivid, unpredictable piece of art.

The Leaves Still Dance is available at freddielosambe.bandcamp.com.