“[This] just might be my favorite ish in a LONG arse TIME,” The Roots’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson tweeted after hearing Sophomore Slump, Vol. 1, the latest project from Skipp Coon and Mister Nick. Amidst a sea of mediocre mixtapes, a clever 140-character quip from a hip-hop icon is about as emphatic an endorsement as an underground artist could hope for. Banter and blog buzz aside, at only five tracks, the Jackson, Mississippi rapper and producer’s second offering stands as one of the most subversive and audacious releases to drop in long time.

As his name alludes, Skipp Coon isn’t one to tiptoe around touchy subjects. In fact, it’s fair to say he’s an agitator, a renegade, and an outright dissident. “Now that y’all got Obama, y’all happy as some pigs in slop,” he barks disparagingly on the album’s opening verse. The song, “James,” a nod to the earnest, hardworking father from the sitcom Good Times, cracks down on social ills before closing on the call, “We got enough J.J.s / Who wanna be a James?”

Skipp’s partner-in-grime, Mr. Nick, a musical misfit of equal pedigree, proves an able accomplice, shadowing Skipp’s provocations with ominous grooves. The disc’s standout, “4-28-1967 (Parts I and II),” compares street-life, the war in Afghanistan, and Vietnam as tirades from the film Network stitch together verses from a slew of emcees, including Dirty South heavyweight David Banner. While the moody, proto-rap poetics of “It Is What It Is” and the exasperating grind of “Get Mad” balance the album’s tensions, the sinister sendoff “Fight” best synopsizes Sophomore Slump, Vol. 1’s seditious and satiric pretext. “I’m a rebel and this rap is a hoax / You spit for tall kids and I write it for adults / Give me a beat; I’ll beat a rapper to a pulp,” Skipp spews with the righteous fury of Chuck D., the cunning wit of Lil Wayne, and the belligerent bravado of Big Boi. The message is potent and the music, even more so.