After sharing the album opener “Aldente” last month, veteran NYC producer Blockhead and Baltimore MC Brian Ennals return with “Let it Burn (like Usher)”, the latest single from their forthcoming collaborative album Boatshoes (Phantom Limb), out  July 17, 2026, the record is a vibrant and celebratory meeting of minds, pairing Ennals’ irreverent, incisive bars with Blockhead’s masterful, finely tuned production.

Out now, “Let it Burn (like Usher)” (listen here and below) showcases the duo’s ability to weave together seemingly disparate influences with effortless flair. A deft, jazz-inflected groove built on double bass and shuffling drums gradually gives way to warped 70’s cartoon organs, as Ennals sing-raps his deceptively bleak imagery with the anarchic wit and knowing grin that have become his trademark. As throughout Boatshoes, the chemistry between the two is undeniable, their shared creative ground yielding something both unpredictable and deeply compelling.

“This is a dude that’s made albums with Aesop Rock and billy woods so I was aware there was a level of quality I had to reach,” writes Ennals. “Not to toot my own horn, I think I did.” A debut collaboration between two heads of hip-hop – one established, one ascending – Boatshoes provided a creative challenge that the pair met head on with verve and confidence.

Brian Ennals is part of the irresistible Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals duo whose three records have attracted significant acclaim in rap music and beyond, including last year’s A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears, but working with Blockhead meant a diversion from the incendiary, vitriolic, substance-loving stomp of his usual format. “It’s the most fun rapping I’ve had in a long time,” he tells us. “Block’s productions were funky as fuck, almost pop, but still totally, totally rap. They didn’t sound like anything I’d ever heard.”

Blockhead (aka Manhattan’s Tony Simon) began his career in the late 90’s, a young producer able to keep pace with the breakneck rhymes of the era’s most exciting underground rap talents. Over the subsequent decades, his extensive CV has expanded to include production for the likes of Aesop Rock, Illogic, Murs, Cage, Armand Hammer, and billy woods, as well as releasing music under his own name and with numerous collectives. And yet, Boatshoes is still a departure. More experimental and more centred in sound design than previous works, the collaboration and Ennal’s influence pushed him to stylistic juxtaposition and timbral exploration. “Brian met the challenges of writing to beats like this at every turn,” he says. “We ended up with an album that sounds nothing like anything we have done before. And when you’ve been doing this as long as I have, that’s a rare accomplishment.”

Kicking off the album, “Aldente” opens with funk-inspired synths and finds Ennals in full force, delivering his signature blend of nihilistic humour, incisive lyricism and offbeat cultural references spanning wildly from cocaine, the blues, Baltimore street slang, alcoholism and MF DOOM. Blockhead rises to the challenge with deep, hard-hitting production that builds from thick grooves into a crescendo of sultry saxophone and soaring swamp-blues harmonica. “Pass the Yayo” barrels ahead on wiry synths, scorching guitar licks, dusty drum breaks and Ennals’ acerbic social critique. Elsewhere, “Wet Noodle” reveals a more vulnerable side, its melancholic strings and bright, soaring synths underscoring a candid reflection on addiction, burnout and self-inflicted decline.

Joining Ennals and Blockhead along the way are fellow underground rap stalwarts Mikie Mayo, Defcee, Fatboi Sharif,  ShrapKnel, and DeathIRL, adding fresh perspectives to an album already jammed-packed with personality and invention. Balancing sharp humour, hard-won perspective and adventurous production, Boatshoes captures two artists pushing beyond their established lanes while remaining deeply rooted in underground hip-hop craft.