What’s in a name? In the last few years, independent hip-hop has evolved into such a strange animal. It’s made of two groups of artists, 1) a bunch of well-known emcees who at one time had a huge buzz, but are now past their prime, or simply never had a hit, and 2) a bunch of unknown emcees, with strange names, different styles, and a sense of camaraderie within each of their own crews. With both groups of indy hip-hoppers, there are an equal amount of winners and losers - those who follow the trends and those that set them. But of course everyone has their own personal rhyming heroes.

Which brings us to the subject of Dragnaslimdublin & The Beatcave Hermit. Typically, with a name like that, it’s the type of thing that would arrive in the mail, and would immediately get thrown into the stack of “demos to be listened to someday”, and would probably be made fun of later that week, by asking someone in a British accent and sneer on my face, “Say, have you heard the new one from Dragnaslimdublin and The Beat Cave Hermit - “it’s slamming man! Simply slamming!”

But as fate would have it, I actually did hear the new one from Dragnaslimdublin and The Beat Cave Hermit, and it is actually quite slamming (in all seriousness - no British accent, no sneer).

Upon first listen, the immediate reaction is that the Dublin sounds quite a lot like a cross between Lyrics Born and the lead vocalist from Dead Or Alive (you know – “you spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby, right round, right round”.). But after listening to the album a few times, you start to realize that Dublin and his partner, the Beatcave Hermit are completely on their own shit, and it’s incredibly dope. Maybe it’s the fusing of the Hermit’s standard hip-hop production, with actual live instrumentation, or maybe it’s how Dublin half sings his rhymes and hooks (“Lock and Key”), but whatever the case may be, the end result is in fact one of the best new debuts for an independent hip-hop artist in a long time.

Whether he’s channeling Rakim to try and suppress his microphone fiending on “The Mic Is On Fire”, or putting equal loyalty into his Violin on “Rosin The Bow”, this is experimental hip-hop at it’s finest, and it’s obvious he’s definitely having fun with it. While this kind of goofy white guy persona may turn off some listeners, he shows his true knack as an emcee on tracks like “Folly: Chapters 1 & 2″, two stories about two misplace middle-Americans, or even better on “Please”, a safe sex tale that puts it blunter and better than ever: “please wear a rubber, you dumb motherfucker. I don’t want my kids growing up with yours”. This kooky sense of humor converts itself into music well, especially on “Wannabe”, where he reveals his true desire - to be James Brown.

Surprisingly, despite a few drearier moments on the album, a combination of good production and a likable emcee make Dragnaslimdublin and The Beatcave Hermit two of the most eligible signees in underground hip-hop at the moment. Don’t sleep.