Americoustic

The pop allure of pop-rap is easy to spot on Hoodie Allen's EP Americoustic, as these guitar-strumming versions of the hip-hopper's early work could smoothly bridge Jack Johnson and Sublime on any given mixtape. "No Faith in Brooklyn" makes the easiest transition from the studio to the campfire singalong circle with the first verse flowing like Coldplay, while the chorus alerts the listener this song is rap-sourced. Like many of the cuts here, that opening number swells into a full rock production, so don't read "Americoustic" as "raw" or "Unplugged." Still, these less thumping, less synthetic versions are great for Allen fans holding hangout afterparties as "Two Lips" wraps his best charm ("I try to make good music/Everybody that I meetin' is a doofus") and then crass swerve ("I'm tryin' to end up in that pussy like two lips") into something that's like a happening open-mike night at The Shameless Millennial Coffee Stop. Good times, but best after fully digesting Hoodie's studio-based All American EP.