Joey Valence & Brae - No Hands (2024)

Why Listen?

No Hands is more than just an album—it’s a time machine strapped to a rocket ship, blasting through golden-age hip-hop nostalgia and landing squarely in the middle of a neon-lit, genre-blurring future. Imagine the Beastie Boys throwing a block party in 2024, with Run-D.M.C. on the grill and Daft Punk DJing the afterparty. That’s the vibe here: unapologetically bold, ridiculously fun, and brimming with enough energy to power a small city.

If you’ve been craving music that doesn’t just break the rules but rewrites them with a Sharpie, No Hands is your new obsession.

From the first track, Joey Valence & Brae make it clear they’re not here to play it safe. The production feels like an audio kaleidoscope—gritty boom-bap beats collide with futuristic synths, while record scratches and horn stabs weave in and out like they’re crashing a house party. The mixing is razor-sharp, letting every layer shine without losing that raw, unpolished edge that makes it feel alive.

It’s like someone took the best parts of 90s hip-hop, threw them in a blender with modern EDM sensibilities, and hit "turbo". The result? A sound that’s somehow both retro and cutting-edge.

Lyrically, Joey Valence & Brae are all swagger and smirk, delivering rapid-fire bars with the kind of chemistry that can’t be faked. They’re equal parts class clowns and lyrical assassins—one moment they’re cracking jokes, the next they’re spitting rhymes so tight you’ll need to rewind just to catch them all.

Their delivery is infectious, bouncing off each other like two kids hyped up on soda and arcade tokens. It’s impossible not to smile while listening; this is music made for blasting out of car windows or soundtracking your most ridiculous dance moves.

What really sets No Hands apart is its fearless sense of fun. This album isn’t trying to be deep or profound—it’s here to remind you why you fell in love with music in the first place. It’s about turning up the volume, forgetting your worries, and letting loose.

In a world where so much music feels overproduced or overly serious, No Hands is a breath of fresh air—a reminder that sometimes it’s okay to just have fun. Joey Valence & Brae have created an album that doesn’t just ask you to listen; it dares you not to dance.

Curator's Note:

JVB MAKE THE BOOTY GO! Best rap album I've heard in a long time. Maybe I just like the old school and how it was fun. These guys are a lot like the Beastie Boys with a dash of Cypress Hill. I love how they went from collecting Pokémon cards and producing beats in their bedroom to touring with Sum 41 a year later. Legends!