NasteeLuvzYou, CE II: Man’s Mission Credit: Courtesy

(AfterLyfe Music, CD, digital)

Rapper and producer NasteeLuvzYou has been an integral part of the 802 hip-hop scene for decades. Along with rapper Dakota and the late, great DJ A_Dog, he founded the influential crew VT Union in the early 2000s. And as the head honcho of his own label, AfterLyfe Music, he occupies rare air in the Vermont rap ecosystem.

Nastee’s résumé is no joke: He’s worked with Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ and the hip-hop collective Pro Era, plus Killah Priest, Termanology and plenty more. Nastee is a career teammate, a collaborative artist who often works behind the scenes or ensconced in the studio. Last year he finally took center stage, dropping his long-awaited debut solo record, Current Events.

Not wasting any time, the Burlington artist is back with a sequel, CE II: Man’s Mission, picking up pretty much where he left off. Like its big brother, CE II is a collection of ’90s-era boom-bap bangers, featuring a slew of Nastee’s friends — and his brother, rapper Konflik — dropping verses on everything from respect to history to politics to the very state of hip-hop. Highlights include Connecticut MC Cambatta absolutely bodying his bars on “Bird’s Eye” and the R&B-flavored “Crisis,” featuring Boston’s Akrobatik.

We don’t learn much new about Nastee on this follow-up, but he’s not running in place either. He’s clearly enjoying going solo, and this is a record made by an MC who knows exactly what he wants to sound like.

Listen to CE II: Man’s Mission at nasteeluvzyou.bandcamp.com.

This article appears in August 5 • 2026.

Music editor Chris Farnsworth has written countless albums reviews and features on Vermont's best musicians, and has seen more shows than is medically advisable. He's played in multiple bands over decades in the local scene and is a recording artist in...