Tenzoeโs debut album Eremition, released October 22nd, 2025, introduces a bold, introspective force in Chicago hip-hop, a 22-track LP like a spiritual rite of passage. Built on the idea of a modern monastery where boom bap drums replace monastery bells, the album merges raw emceeing with philosophical depth, pulling listeners into a meditative dojo of ego, discipline, and self-revelation. With heavyweight producers like White Shadow, Homage, Statik Selektah, and Lord Gamma shaping its textured landscape, and a formidable lineup of guest lyricists including Atma, 7Rinth, June Marx, Masta Buildas, and Cambatta, Eremition becomes a scroll of hard-earned wisdom rather than just another hip-hop drop.
Anyway, the album opens with โGลsuto Death Mask,โ setting the tone with eerie innocence. A childlike, dreamy chorus fades in like a lullaby from another realm. Then Tenzoe steps inโhis voice grave, calm, convicted, and utterly unafraid. He raps with an unrestrained honesty over an immersive beat and hypnotic production, the tension simmering beneath the surface as if heโs unmasking the ego layer by layer. Itโs a gripping first step into the monastery.
By track seven, โIsis,โ the mood shifts into something warmer and deeper. Tender, enveloping music cushions Tenzoeโs verses as he raps about dissociation, blocking out the noise, and navigating the inner storms that meditation alone canโt silence. The track feels intimate, grounded, like a moment of stillness in the middle of training.
Then โSakura Switchblades,โ track fourteen, slices in with churning, flowing music and chest-deep bass. A delicate, sonorous female voice wails hauntingly, adding an almost ghostly beauty. Multiple artists take turns rapping, each bringing their own tone, flow, and energy, keeping the track dynamic and ever-shifting, like a sparring circle of masters exchanging philosophies.
Across Eremition, Tenzoe proves that hip-hop can be ascetic, expansive, and spiritually charged. Listen to Tenzoe go deep and contemplate upon it on Spotify.
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Review by: Naomi Joan