This fantastic five-song EP sneaks up on you. On your first listen, you’ll hear some addictively catchy gangsta trap.

But something is off. Basskid is distracted. (Aren’t we all?) Lil Boof reveals his brother has passed. He’s trying, but it’s hard. “I tried to quit the drink but I just relapsed,” he repeats on the moving opening track.

It’s been a year marked with grief. Few other projects from 2021 have truly captured—and laid bare with honesty—the weight of the pandemic. Lil Boof and Big Sad 1900 have already faced many calamities in their young lives. They itemize strategies to navigate their world of women, guns, and money. They’re “locked in for real” and they’ll persevere. Despite setbacks, they remain hopeful.

It was recorded at Post Office Studios, at 2 am, in Tacoma, and features stellar production from BassKidOnTheBeat, Khris P, Laudiano, and QInTheCut. The song “Menace 2 Society” warbles in and out of tune in a curious way, and EP’s closer will find you unexpectedly singing “I miss my grandma” as though it were a sports area singalong.

It’s been a tough year. “Concrete Roses” manages to both give voice to your strained feelings and offers catharsis, too. I keep spinning this one over and over again.