On the joint release Dollar$ & Daialogue, New Orleans emcee Slangston Hughes and Memphis rapper/producer L’Daialogue DiCaprio show they aren’t afraid to put their money where their mouths are, delivering an album that is as deep lyrically as it is sonically. The deft production by the team of L’Daialogue and MiZUnderstatistic compliments the two underground tacticians’ distinctive styles: Daialogue’s spitfire, syncopated flow and Slang’s shifty, stinging flips.

“Put the zap in the boom-bap, Roger Troutman,” Hughes spits on “Hands in the Air” over a Triggerman sample, nodding to both his NOLA roots and the late, Zapp frontman. Elsewhere, R&B crooner Suave elevates the murky grid of “Lord, Smile on Me,” and fellow New South slugger Lyrikill adds his gruff touch to the eerie “Payable 2 Me.”

DiCaprio and Hughes’ chemistry is captured best in the title track, a hard-hitting hustler anthem that cops and contorts Timbaland’s beat from Jay-Z’s “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot).” The album’s smoothest cut, “Ladies in the Crowd,” a shout-out to all of the sisters representing real hip-hop, is also its catchiest. Though there may be a few stumbles on Dollar$ & Daialogue—forced verses, stagnant transitions—Slangston Hughes and L’Daialogue DiCaprio do more than enough to prove their pedigree.