Any day that Lil Ugly Mane puts out a new mixtape is a good day for celebration.

And so we celebrate, because the Virginia producer, rapper and graphic artist also known as Shawn Kemp has just dropped his first tape of 2014. The 18-track Absence Of Shitperson is available as a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp release which Mane describes as follows:

“CLASSIC “LIL UGLY MANE” FAVORITES WITH NEW IMPROVED NEVER BEFORE SEEN INTERFACE THAT ALLOWS FOR THE LISTENER TO MAKE UP THEIR OWN COOL PERSONALIZED LYRICS TO EACH SONG AND PERHAPS A COOL DANCE. NEVER BEFORE SEEN TECHNOLOGY.”

Complementing the gruesome artwork, the track titles run together to form a kind of hellish Burroughsian narrative: ‘THE OPERATOR THAT CONNECTED YOU’; ‘INJECTED HIMSELF WITH PISS’, ‘WHILE YOU WERE ON HOLD’, ‘AND DIED INSTANTLY ENDLESSLY’).

Compared to last year’s eclectic and exuberant Three Sided Tape (the first volume of which was one of FACT’s favourite albums of 2013), Absence Of Shitperson is a druggy, drowsy downer that riffs on Memphis rap, ghostly G-funk and trip-hop in Mane’s typically lo-fi style. Very necessary.

Stream it below or download from Bandcamp for $5 or more.