The Mad Conductor has a 10-year history of putting out truly unique hip-hop. The renegade space rockers go beyond typical, sample laden beats and hold their unwavering place in an ever-exploring, experimental territory. To say the group fuses hip-hop with punk and reggae would be a disservice. Yes, those elements are clearly included, by way of live drums, guitar, bass, brass and keys; but the instrumentals are so packed with sound, as the layers peel back, elements previously unnoticed will emerge several times over. Space Rock Steady builds upon previous consistencies of dense, high quality music, adding heavy doses of funk and twinges of psychedelic rock to the EP’s five tracks.

Chaos is always abundant in a Mad Conductor song, making the listener repeatedly investigate the lyrics, the samples, the instruments, the backing vocals, something new is found and appreciated during every listen. Space Rock Steady begins with its title track, MC Devlin gives an echoed, Gehrig-esque introduction, “Today, I consider myself the rudest of all rudeboys,” launching into a dreamy, hazy rocksteady beat, an organ and distant sounds of horns accompanying hooks. MC Devlin speaks of being an outsider, reminiscing over his anarcho-Sex Pistols-loving self, while a bevy of different vocals sing and interject in the background. Busy as it may be, this is a standard Mad Conductor tune.

Funk grooves its way in on “Legendary Jams,” the wobbling bass guiding the song through one of MC Devlin’s tales until a party of hyped, “MC!” chanting busts out and ends with hardcore, celebratory shouts. “Powerful Moves” continues the funk, this time with a more boastful nature, channeling traditional hip-hop’s self-complementing over staticky guitars for a minute and a half, until a powerful chorus is belted out, while a raspy whisper of “let’s hit ‘em with the powerful move” serves as a follow up punch, the phrase later serving the song as a mission statement, howled repeatedly until overtaken by trippy, high pitched tweaks. This is what Mad Conductor does so well, taking a hip-hop song, filling it with rocksteady rocket fuel, and blasting off into a funky universe, while the listener has no idea what to expect, just that it will be an enjoyable, albeit weird, ride.

Mainstream sound seems to not be a goal for the group, but “Radio Madness” is the one song that comes close, at least for a little while. The title is literal, as the track acts like it’s going down the dial, hitting airwaves of top 40, rock steady, classic rock, big band, and whatever aliens are trying to transmit to us. It’s hard to name something so all over the place as "catchy," but when everything regroups to the chorus, it’s hard not to want to listen again.

MC Devlin is incredibly skilled at storytelling in his music, creating a lyrical path that must be followed to find out what happens next, regardless of resolution. While that is arguably his greatest strength, his conscious-forward rapping should also be noted. “Dog House Theory” is Space Rock Steady’s closer, and the most socially and politically aware song, behind all the distorted guitar work constantly jamming out, and triumphant horns trying to outcompete.

After those 23 minutes, it’s time to start all over again. You can’t listen to a Mad Conductor song once. Or even twice. Every song is an undertaking, it’s clear how much attention goes into making every track. It’s one thing to play a bunch of different genres, but to play them all at once, and come out with something sounding like it all belongs together is a true craft. Space Rock Steady is yet another example of MC putting in great effort and yielding fantastic results. Hip-hop might be dead on Earth, but Mad Conductor is having a party with it in space.