Turntablist/producer DJ Criminal shares the video for the single “Mountain Tops,” an ethereal and orchestrated piece of Hip-Hop that features Slug (Atmosphere), Blueprint and Elysian Fields / Lovage vocalist Jennifer Charles. The track is off the forthcoming The Smuggler’s Candle LP that’s set to drop this Friday, August 26, 2022. The video, directed by Blueprint himself, mirrors the introspective lyrics of a journey across great obstacles.  

Of the collaboration, Criminal revealed, “I actually first met Slug and Blueprint while in college. After I graduated I interned at Rhymesayers for a bit, solidifying my relationship with both. I fell in love with Jennifer’s vocals through her work on the Mike Patton & Dan The Automator album Lovage. This is actually her first appearance on a hip-hop track since that album.”

International crime journalist Sean Williams succinctly sums up the project (appearing in several interludes on the album) as “this isn’t just music to smuggle to. It’s music that’s been smuggled.” Indeed the majority of the album was created using vinyl he obtained and smuggled during digging excavations in Afghanistan, Thailand, and other Asian countries.