Nicholas Craven & Boldy James – “Power Nap”

Over the past year or so, Montreal hip-hop producer Nicholas Craven has been teaming with Detroit rapper Boldy James on a series of one-off tracks, most recently “Death & Taxes.” Today they’ve got a floaty, meditative offering that they’ve appropriately titled “Power Nap.” Not that this will put you to sleep, but Craven’s drum-free loop is almost lullaby-esque, and Boldy’s light touch gives his rugged cadence a hypnotic quality. His lyrics make lots of references to bedtime rituals, too. But many of them are menacing — the kind of thoughts that remind us sleep is the cousin of death: “Get put under anesthesia, n***a for sleepin’ on me/ Get put in a permanent sleep for just speakin’ on me.” Listen below.