Erule might have to live under the shadow of his own achievements, having cemented his name with “Synopsis” and “Listen Up” from the mid-90s, but at least he’s striving to reach that peak again. His last 12″ was pleasant enough (“The Real Me”) but “Milestone” seems to go a step further. While a lyrical style that has me thinking of Nasty Nas circa Illmatic era, Erule spits with conviction: “sincerely/this is really/how severely fucked up/from what’s what/getting’ cuffed up/murder or stuck up/it’s tough luck.” Frankly, it’s not that easy to figure out exactly what he’s trying to say but on record, it sounds genius. Chew on that for a minute and while you do it, enjoy King Born’s simple, slick track of hard-knockin’ drums and a sprinkle of keys. It’s so good you might as well forget about the B-side, “Sabotage” which mostly just suffers from an anemic track (also by King Born) though Erule’s still dropping some cipher-strung lyrics on the line.