Your Old Droog: Full Album Stream

Brooklyn hip hop upstart Your Old Droog builds off of the unique buzz surrounding his mysterious ascension into the rap world with Your Old Droog, the LP, which can be streamed and purchased.

There was excitement over Your Old Droog since word of his exceptional EP dropped earlier this year. Excitement that was helped along by some in the “industry,” as part of a halfway-concocted marketing strategy to boost attention to the young Brooklynite. See, the guy sounded, to a lot of people, very similar to the veteran rapper Nas, in style, tone and diction. Close enough, many speculated, for them to be one and the same.

It was also exciting because it was good material. Certainly, to be confused with one of hip hop’s greatest, albeit arguably inconsistent lyrical superstars, you’d have to be.

The execution of the strategy worked, as video evidence started to appear and then as a packed room full of industry insiders and fans of traditional-sounding New York hip hop packed The Studio at Webster Hall for the big reveal, which revealed Your Old Droog to be none other than Your Old Droog. While there was appreciation mixed with some tinges of disappointment in the air, much of the consensus seemed to be that if Your Old Droog could deliver more material on this level, without having to keep up the I-might-be-Nas charade, his pen game, stage presence and confidence might help propel him out of regional and Inside Baseball obscurity and into rap’s gen pop.

LISTEN: Recap of Your Old Droog Webster Hall performance on The NY Hip Hop Report

The first opportunity for that is here, as the Your Old Droog EP is being repackaged and appended to, as the Your Old Droog LP. Songs from the EP, a couple re-worked, new songs, are an official package for those who followed his unique rise, and a proper introduction to those who never bit into the conspiracy-riddled fruit the first time around.

NPR has dibs on the live stream. You can catch it, plus Microphone Check’s Frannie Kelley’s take on the project, here.