6666 by Four Fists

By: jimmy cooper

Four Fists is the new project from Minneapolis hip-hop staples Astronautilus and P.O.S. (Piece of Shit, Product of Society, Pissed Off Stef). “6666” is their new album, and no matter what god(dess)(es) you care to invoke for something this damn good, it’s fantastic. The lyrics are a scathing attack on the nonsensical political era we’re in: they’re angry and afraid, hopeful and hopeless, and they don’t back down. Both rappers have always been political and poetic, but the lines on this album spit in your face and ask you to thank them. In “Coriolanus,” P.O.S. calls out the sexualization of young girls: “Out of step with the world’s/a common refrain/… to every girl who finds her chest obscene/because her friends have dads/Men are fuckin’ trash.”

The group attacks the patriarchy and our own apathy, battling passivity with classic punk ideology in “Joe Strummr.” Strummer was a man of action and inspired many to dissent, becoming the closest thing to a saint there is in dissident communities. In 2018, though, we’re becoming indifferent to horrendous political news. Four Fists laments: “Joe Strummer's been dead for too damn long/And now we’re all just numb to what's gone wrong/We don’t fight/We don't riot/Even when the war's outside our door.”

“6666” is empowering and inciting. The beats are fantastic, the samples are clever, and you had better be careful, because after listening to the album even once, you might just feel like doing something about it.