The 24-year-old Atlantan eccentric Zukenee claims he’s bringing “authenticity” back to the rap game—except his whole thing is cosplaying as a medieval knight. BLUNTS & BLADES, his fourth full-length album of 2026, is the newest entry in his ongoing project of reimaging himself as a disillusioned paladin wandering the gothic wasteland of modern-day Atlanta—post-T.I., Gucci Mane, and Jeezy, post-Whole Lotta Red, post-YSL RICO trial—trying to piece it all back together almost singlehandedly. It’s his best work to date, a jolt of inspiration that deprioritizes the sword-and-shield shtick and redirects focus to his songwriting and raw rapping ability.
The new record reveals a deep reverence for an acutely lyrical branch of Atlanta rap. Zukenee matches the verbal acrobatics of the incarcerated Peewee Longway with the larger-than-life stylings of the late Young Scooter, sometimes dropping his voice and employing a measured, singsong cadence reminiscent of another late Atlanta legend, Trouble. Like Trouble, Zukenee can lull you into a groove, then puncture that false sense of security with an abrupt shift in tone. (I’d like to think of the presence of Ear Drummers producer Truebeatzz on this otherwise close-knit roster of producers as further homage to Mike WiLL Made-It’s work with Trouble.) More explicit is the Bankroll Fresh flip “Walked Out,” where Zukenee fires off stream-of-conscious taunts over a glitchy rendition of the familiar Mr. 2-17 melody. On “Question Mark,” he lets slip a rare autobiographical bar: “Fourth grade I was playin’ Future, thinkin’ ’bout my future.”
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Production-wise, a bulk of the beats are handled by Cade, desmos, and Willem.kr, three of Zukenee’s closest collaborators. Though generally more jittery, the best ones shoot for the disarming quirkiness of Pi’erre Bourne’s work with Young Nudy, filtering Pi’erre’s ear for digital sounds through the blown-out tastes of a post-Flex Music underground scene and Zukenee’s own flair for carnival sounds and fat synths. “Face in Pillow” is particularly thrilling, coupling face-melting double bass with Zu’s matter-of-fact shit-talking. It all feels intentional, as if Zukenee is trying to prove that it’s possible to rap well over beats that sound like they might also be on a OsamaSon or Yeat hard drive somewhere.