(Equal Eyes Records, digital)
Claytone is a new name for a familiar face: The artist formerly known as Drive has been a standout act around here for many moons now. A natural talent with a nimble flow, he emerged from Lamoille County and turned heads with his intense live show. But in recent years, he’s been most notable for being about as invisible as the late Howard Hughes. In fact, I assumed he’d hung up the mic, as most rappers eventually do.
I was very wrong. The name change reflects thought and personal growth, but Claytone’s debut LP, Early to the After-Party, deliberately revisits Drive’s 2021 EP, Late to the Party. The latter was a too-short portrait of a young artist still working out who he wanted to be. Years later, that work is done — and, it turns out, was mostly internal.
This is no radical reinvention, just a refined recipe: straight-up hip-hop from a rapper with a gift for both complex rhyme patterns and catchy, conversational hooks. He’s just more comfortable being an outsider, both in terms of Vermont’s Burlington-centric rap scene and the genre itself.
Continuing the full-circle aesthetic, Claytone has once again teamed up with BTV producer ILLu, who has clearly been stocking up on ’90s boom-bap throwbacks in recent years. The result is an impressively consistent album, exploring the range between RZA’s minor-key hypnosis and DJ Premier’s anthemic stomp. ILLu’s beats remain rugged and raw, but his ear for the small touches that elevate beats into songs is more honed than ever. This LP marks some of his best work, period.
Early to the After-Party is a carefully calculated artistic statement. There’s plenty of “rapping about rapping” braggadocio on tap here but also a great deal of hard-won life advice and smart songwriting. On cuts such as “Shotgun” or opener “Barbarian,” Claytone’s pen game is top shelf, not only expanding on his concepts but flipping them in unexpected new directions.
Claytone is clearly staking out his place as a regional force, too. His guest features are sparing and judicious: Street Religion mainstays Yung Breeze and Raw Deff both deliver knockout performances, and “Sunny” features BTV up-and-comer the Funky Diabetic over a reggae-flavored summer-single banger.
My only complaint here would be the uneven sound quality of the vocals. But then again, I am an audiophile dinosaur in a Spotify world, and taste is a funny thing. So while some tracks, such as “Cash Cow” or “Reanimated,” lean further into digital distortion than I’d like, it’s also true to the “indie-hip-hop” dorm room-demo aesthetics of early MF DOOM or DJ Bobbito Garcia’s Fondle ’Em Records. (Props due to mix/master technician Ryder Jam, who made sure every syllable has the impact it deserves.)
Besides, that lo-fi recipe is clearly working. Early to the After-Party is an unexpected and welcome addition to an incredibly busy year for Vermont hip-hop.
Early to the After-Party is available on equaleyesrecords.bandcamp.com and major streaming services.
This article appears in The Winter Preview Issue 2025.
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