In their respective lanes, Beans and Sasu Ripatti are known as agents of disorientation. Be it abstract rap or minimalist dub electronics, they each exist as powerful forces who approach their left-field music without compromise. It’s been over a decade in the making, but Beans and Ripatti—proving that steel sharpens steel—emit the full force of their fused powers on ZWAARD, out now on Tygr Rawwk Rcrds and released to critical acclaim.

Named after the Dutch noun for a heavy-bladed weapon, ZWAARD is Beans’ reminder that even in his fifties he’s “about to be / one of the flyest MCs on AARP.” No matter the threat level of Ripatti’s hostile production, Beans sounds cozy like a homebody, boundless in bravado, as though he could rhyme over erratic, hyper-aggressive percussion or disjointed negative space without breaking a sweat. 

Today Beans shares the head-turning new video for “ZWAARD 12.” On the track, which sounds like Ripatti’s reinterpretation of LL Cool J’s “I Need Love,” Beans aims his weapon at his reflection, cutting down himself before the outside world has a crack at him, only to land on the refrain “need somebody to love you, invest in a mirror.”