Perfect Hair is a studio album by American rapper Busdriver.[1] It was released on September 9, 2014, by Big Dada.[2] The album features guest appearances from Aesop Rock, Danny Brown and Open Mike Eagle, among others.[3] The cover art was painted by John Lurie.[4] Music videos were made for "Ego Death",[5] "Colonize the Moon",[6] "Eat Rich"[7] and "Motion Lines".[8]

Perfect Hair
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 9, 2014 (2014-09-09)
GenreHip hop
Length46:55
LabelBig Dada
Producer
Busdriver chronology
Beaus$Eros
(2012)
Perfect Hair
(2014)
Thumbs
(2015)

On June 20, 2014, "Ego Death" was chosen by Consequence of Sound as one of their Top 10 Songs of the Week.[9]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.1/10[10]
Metacritic74/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [12]
Clash7/10[13]
Consequence of SoundB−[14]
Exclaim!7/10[15]
musicOMH     [16]
PopMatters7/10[17]
Tiny Mix Tapes     [18]

Perfect Hair received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 10 reviews.[11]

Adam Kivel of Consequence of Sound said: "Wild, insanely ambitious, and a bit inconsistent, Perfect Hair encodes and decodes the ideas, opinions, and deconstructions that can only come from Farquhar's brain."[14] David Jeffries of AllMusic said, "Perfect Hair contains all the usual reasons Busdriver is wonderful, just with a little more sugar baked in."[12] Grant Brydon of Clash said, "The rollercoaster ride of his delivery makes it an enjoyable experience rather than a textbook headache."[13] Matt Bauer of Exclaim! said, "A few duds abound, like the wearisome "Eat Rich", but the album ends strongly with the sci-fi-flavoured "Colonize the Moon".[15] Jack Dutton of musicOMH said, "Although this album is at times a difficult listen, you can't help but admire Busdriver for his innovation and general wackiness."[16] Nathan Stevens of PopMatters said, "Perfect Hair is no doubt a great album, but its tendency to fidget between ideas leaves it the idea of cohesion in a shallow grave."[17]

Track listing

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No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Retirement Ode"Busdriver3:19
2."Bliss Point"Busdriver3:35
3."Ego Death" (featuring Aesop Rock and Danny Brown)Jeremiah Jae6:00
4."Upsweep"Mono/Poly4:28
5."When the Tooth-lined Horizon Blinks" (featuring Open Mike Eagle)Great Dane4:09
6."Motion Lines"Busdriver5:12
7."Eat Rich"Kenny Segal3:08
8."King Cookie Faced (for Her)"Busdriver4:05
9."Can't You Tell I'm a Sociopath" (featuring VerBS)Mike Gao3:10
10."Colonize the Moon" (featuring Pegasus Warning)
  • Riley Lake
  • Busdriver
9:49
Perfect Hair bonus tracks
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
11."Joyce 1"Riley Lake4:17
12."How Your Sprinkler System Work" (featuring Del the Funky Homosapien)
  • Busdriver
  • Candy Claw
2:56
13."Go Hard or Go Homogenous" (featuring P.O.S)Kenny Segal3:36
Vinyl and Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
14."Octagon"
4:22
Bandcamp bonus track
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
15."King Cookie Faced (for Hellfyre)" (featuring Open Mike Eagle and Milo)Greyhat6:08

Notes

  • "Retirement Ode" features uncredited vocals by Terra Lopez
  • "Bliss Point" features uncredited saxophone by Ben Wendel
  • "Colonize the Moon" includes a bonus track at 5:13, called "Bone Structure" featuring Open Mike Eagle
  • "Joyce 1" features uncredited vocals by Joelle Le and Riley Lake
  • "King Cookie Faced (for Hellfyre)" features uncredited vocals by Terra Lopez and Joelle Le

References

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  1. ^ Kangas, Chaz (September 3, 2014). "Busdriver Keeps Pushing Boundaries, More Than Anyone in Hip-Hop". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014.
  2. ^ Baker, Soren (September 5, 2014). "Busdriver "Perfect Hair" Release Date, Cover Art, Tracklist, Album Stream & Tour Itinerary". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014.
  3. ^ Joyce, Colin (June 16, 2014). "Hear Busdriver's Prickly Collab with Danny Brown and Aesop Rock – "Ego Death" heralds 'Perfect Hair' album, due September 9 on Big Dada". Spin. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014.
  4. ^ Beauchemin, Molly (June 16, 2014). "Busdriver Teams With Danny Brown and Aesop Rock for "Ego Death" – From Busdriver's new album Perfect Hair". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014.
  5. ^ Hughes, Josiah (July 10, 2014). "Busdriver "Ego Death" (ft. Aesop Rock and Danny Brown) (video)". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014.
  6. ^ Kramer, Kyle (July 23, 2014). "Busdriver Heads Into Space to Rap and "Colonize the Moon"". Vice. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
  7. ^ Gillespie, Blake (September 15, 2014). "Busdriver, "Eat Rich"". Impose. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  8. ^ Raymer, Miles (October 14, 2014). "Dive into Busdriver's kaleidoscopic 'Motion Lines' video". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016.
  9. ^ Madden, Michael (June 20, 2014). "Top 10 Songs of the Week (6/20)". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014.
  10. ^ "Perfect Hair by Busdriver reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Perfect Hair – Busdriver". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Jeffries, David (September 8, 2014). "Perfect Hair – Busdriver". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Brydon, Grant (September 16, 2014). "Busdriver – Perfect Hair". Clash. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Kivel, Adam (September 12, 2014). "Busdriver – Perfect Hair". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  15. ^ a b Bauer, Matt (September 8, 2014). "Busdriver Perfect Hair". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  16. ^ a b Dutton, Jack (September 8, 2014). "Busdriver – Perfect Hair". musicOMH. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015.
  17. ^ a b Stevens, Nathan (September 9, 2014). "Busdriver: Perfect Hair". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014.
  18. ^ Scott, Jackson (October 6, 2014). "Busdriver – Perfect Hair". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.
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