ASM (A State Of Mind) are incredible. The trio made up of producer Rhino, and MCs Green and FP have just dropped their next album “Blue Cocoon” via the legendary indie label Chinese Man records, which was recorded early Spring this year nearer to the start period of quarantine.

Written, composed, and recorded entirely during the quarantine period of spring 2020, when the earth was a blue cocoon.

Nature flourished, and the human species was confined to inertness, reflecting and taking stock. This is ASM’s contemplation on their own path and that of the world around them through the lens of suspended isolation. 
Historically anchored in the boom bap tradition, ASM’s new sonic direction on Blue Cocoon is stripped down to raw soul loops with emphasis on rhyme craft and vivid lyrical imagery, sprinkled with retro sci-fi cuts. Stylistically, it leans on the minimal loop-digging movement of recent productions by Madlib, The Alchemist, or Jay Electronica, while showcasing the purest essence of their unique identity and personality.

The content oscillates between apocalyptic dread and hopeful exaltation. 
Lyrically, this is ASM’s most sophisticated and artistically mature output to date, a seminar in how to grow older in the hip hop paradigm with class and grace.