In the late ’90s, a rap weirdo who called himself doseone came out of nowhere — or, more accurately, Nampa, Idaho — with a scattered, frantic, entirely original style. His flow sounded like fast-talk patter from an old gangster movie, and his technical wizardry and oblique imagery helped set the stage for a few decades of underground rap.

In 1997, doseone famously freestyle-battled Eminem at Scribble Jam. After that, he helped found the Anticon Collective, and he played a crucial role in groups like cLOUDDEAD, Themselves, and Subtle, some of which didn’t make anything that could be recognized as rap music. He’s been a driving force in projects like 13 & God, the team-up between Themselves and the Notwist, and Nevermen, his supergroup trio with Mike Patton and Tunde Adebimpe. Today, doseone’s got a new album that brings him into a realm of underground rap that he probably helped inspire.

The new doseone album All Portrait, No Chorus is a full-length team-up with the skronky New York producer Steel Tipped Dove, a veteran in his own right. Steel Tipped Dove is part of the scene surrounding billy woods’ label Backwoodz Studioz; he got together with Fatboi Sharif and Fat Tony to release the album Brain Candy a few months ago. All Portrait, No Chorus came about specifically because Doseone loves the music coming out on Backwoodz and because he reached out to Steel Tipped Dove.

On All Portrait, No Chorus, Steel Tipped Dove provides a set of spacious, clanking beats that give doseone room to push his voice in a bunch of different directions. Guests include billy woods, Open Mike Eagle, Fatboi Sharif, Antipop Consortium’s M.Sayyid, and Freestyle Fellowship legend Mykah 9, some of whom adjust their own styles to match up with what doseone does. If you’re ready to go deep into a deep rap-nerd vortex, this is a real trip. On the album’s Bandcamp description, doseone has this to say:

I have been inspired by Backwoodz for a while, in many ways, but the most potent being all these distinct pens. September 2023, I had heard a nearly done version of ShrapKnel’s latest record, and something snapped in me. Hearing that perfectly hungry, inspired rapping turned my power back on. For me, being inspired warrants telling those who are inspiring you, so [once I heard Decay] I reached out and sent Fatboi Sharif and dove some kind words about that record. The rest is history…

I’m not really a features guy, but to align with and connect with those who inspire me, I called in some beautiful humans I had never worked with but always meant to: Open Mike Eagle, M.Sayyid, billy woods, Fatboi Sharif, and Myka 9 connect eras, artists, and styles of unconventional rap I hold incredibly dear.

Stream All Portrait, No Chorus below.

All Portrait, No Chorus is out now on Backwoodz Studioz.