Hard. Just hard. Like 1998 Fat Joe and Busta Rhymes hard. That describes the latest offering from The Lox emcee Sheek Louch. A formidable rhymer, Sheek hasn’t been in the spot light as much as his The Lox cohorts Jadakiss and Styles P, but he makes up for his absence with “Bang Bang” – the first sound from his #SBP2 project (Silverback Gorilla Part 2). The cut boasts a sparse but heavy drum track that, unlike today’s rap music, doesn’t rely heavily on 808 kicks. The beat is accompanied by a reggae “bang, bang” vocal sample and a synth effect that is eerily reminiscent of the sound from Clipse’s Neptunes produced “Mr. Me Too”. That association makes sense because Pusha T joins Sheek on the track to give it that extra grit to make this a potential, 1:00 am, turn-up, club banger (see what I did there?). Lyrically “Bang Bang” gives you exactly what you would expect from both emcees and musically it feels familiar which, in a way, makes it a refreshing departure from the current sound of hip-hop. Don’t take my opinion. Press play and listen for yourself, and cop the #SBP2 project when it drops on Tommy Boy Records. And as always…leave comments below.