Homeboy Sandman on Lice, His Free EP, and Rooting for the Nuggets

New York-bred MC Homeboy Sandman is a lyricist who has gained praise from all walks of life in the hip-hop community. He is a lyricist’s lyricist — writing raps that are intelligent and to the point, with instantly recognizable wit oozing from clever one-liners that stick out like a Magic Eye. Hailing from Queens, a place known for its reputable roster of artists including A Tribe Called Quest, Run D.M.C., Kool G Rap and Mobb Deep — Sandman does his best to carry the torch. 

Today Homeboy Sandman releases Lice, a free five-song EP, with fellow lyricist Aesop Rock. The two MCs toured the U.S. last year, which led to the creation of this short but lyrically phenomenal venture. The EP contains production by DJ Spinna, Optiks, Blockhead, Alex “Apex” Gale and Charles Hamilton. 

“You're probably scratching your head right now wondering why this EP is called Lice," Sandman says. "The truth is, Aes and I always have all these ideas crawling around our brains, and we wanted to share them with you. You may find that after listening to the project, it's nearly impossible to get it out of your head. It's only a matter of time before you share it with others.” 

Lice is about lyricism. You can hear the pleasure that Sandman and Aesop get from writing rhyme schemes and one-liners. There’s an excitement to this EP that keeps you coming back, with lines like, “Cats had better not include me in group text, cats had better watch their free hand during group sex.”

Homeboy Sandman will perform this Wednesday, December 2, at Cervantes' Other Side, marking his first headlining show in Denver, followed by two shows in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. “I’ve always had a good time in Denver. I played Cervantes' opening up for Brother Ali, and then I played the Gothic with Aesop Rock, and they’re always fantastic shows. I’ve never done a show in Denver that I thought was lagging in crowd energy,” Sandman says.

Although Sandman’s time in Denver has been limited, he has strong ties to the Mile High City, including Coloradan artist Andrew Huffman, who created album artwork for Sandman’s White Sands EP and Hallways LP. In addition, although Sandman's a devout Knicks fan, he roots for the Denver Nuggets, mostly because of ex-Nugget Carmelo Anthony. “I’ve been a huge Carmelo Anthony fan since he was at Syracuse, I like to see the Nuggets do good. I like the Nuggets' unis [uniforms]; they had some of the top unis for a while,” Sandman says.

High Five Collective will open the show on Wednesday. Homeboy Sandman's free EP Lice is available for download here.