Every so often, a hip-hop work comes along and announces, “OK, enough with all the nonsense; this is how it's done.” Veteran underground MC El-P does that with this set of 12 songs overflowing with bile and sonic invention. The former head of the defunct Definitive Jux label produced the set and offers the perfect aural correlative to his blistering verses. Using a mix of industrial effects, droning guitars, ominous keyboards, and rumbling bass, El-P conjures a modern day Bomb Squad sound. The mix is as dense and tightly wound as El-Producto’s spellbinding rhymes. He deals with complex themes from sexual control (“Sign Here”) to self-doubt (“The Jig Is Up”) to death and grief. There are enough verbal pyrotechnics in “$4 Vic/FTL (Me and You)” to keep Drake’s head spinning into the next millennium. Complementary cameos from Killer Mike and Danny Brown make every word count — and these days, that’s rare. (Out Tuesday)

ESSENTIAL “Drones Over BKLYN”

El-P performs at the Paradise Rock Club on
July 11.