Something about this town makes hip-hop crews straight-up honest about their finances in ways other places don’t. The duo of Spyanage & Johnnie, for example, spend a lot of time on their debut making plans for getting paid while nevertheless interrupting themselves with several skits about dodging bill collectors. It’s kind of refreshing to see someone undercut their own bluster, and no doubt that has something to do with the acronym of the album title, too. (Figure it out. It’s not hard. And not printable here, either.)

Their smoother, more soulful, slicker take on standard NOLA hood beats make them stand out as much as their sense of humor; with a mix of producers from here to Atlanta, they could possibly even enter the realm of a minor-league version of Outkast if they keep working at it. “Let Her,” the remix of the title track, and “Ascap”—which you may not be surprised to learn is not about publishing—feature that shiny mix of R&B melodies and EDM sounds that could get them across on the radio. (First, however, they have to decide if they really want to unleash the torrent of homophobia they employ on the diss track “Actin Like a Whole Hoe.”) As it is, they drop the title of the album and its excellent leadoff single “Hashtag” way too often in the middle of their weed-and-sex rhymes, but that’s only ’cause they’re clearly swinging for the bleachers of national exposure already: when they mention twerking during one of their conquests, it’s Miley Cyrus whose name they drop, not Big Freedia. Whatever gets you over, I guess.