• Record Label: Customs
  • Release Date: Oct 14, 2016
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. 91
    Impressively condensed to under an hour, Cashmere’s thrilling tale of two MCs stands as a worthy achievement indeed. Musically, it holds up in the same way actual cashmere holds heat: better than most.
  2. Oct 13, 2016
    90
    It's hard to find a flaw on this album, quite frankly. It's personal, political, funny and the production is spectacular.
  3. Oct 13, 2016
    80
    It's a dense and lyrically challenging record, as you would expect from two highly intelligent individuals who have lived through the bars they deliver, but it ends on their most salient point: "Can't escape yourself, please love yourself," Riz MC's final words on "Din-e-llahi."
  4. Oct 13, 2016
    80
    Whilst Heems’ verses amble along with wry humour and charmingly lazy wordplay (“Inshallah, mashallah, hopefully no martial law”), Riz MC’s (actor Riz Ahmed) are typified by a razor-sharp flow, as fast as it is furious, and breathlessly references the refugee crisis, Aeneas from The Iliad, Trump and his film career in short order, before throwing down that he “run[s] the city like my name’s Sadiq”.
  5. Oct 13, 2016
    75
    That ability to tell stories of varying depth and importance is what rap is really all about, and in that regard, Swet Shop Boys are ascending fast.
  6. Oct 13, 2016
    74
    This is heavy stuff and as fun as it can be, Cashmere is an unabashedly political record, careening from one geopolitical issue to the next the way that most rap albums treat boasts. Ultimately, though, its most impactful moments lie in the simple act of representation.
  7. Oct 25, 2016
    70
    Cashmere is an undeniably complicated but fun album that reckons with South Asian representation in the global pop culture of 2016. It’s totally necessary, but we’re lucky that it’s as enjoyable as it is. If there is any flaw to the album, it’s that it feels like the first step to something else.
  8. Oct 18, 2016
    70
    At times the clash of rhyme and sonic styles is too full or disjointed, sounding like the Boys are still finding their stride and working out how to cram everything in. Plenty here though to be blasted throughout Suburbia.
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 24
  2. Negative: 3 out of 24
  1. Oct 18, 2016
    10
    This reminds me when M.I.A. released Kala; the album is so fierce, fine, politically charged and way next level. I love the concept of theThis reminds me when M.I.A. released Kala; the album is so fierce, fine, politically charged and way next level. I love the concept of the album, what a remarkable masterpiece. 10/10. Full Review »
  2. Oct 14, 2016
    6
    Boys Riz MC, Heems and Redinho are a good feeling treasure like the cloth in Cashmere. Fun and fuming and dub/club mixed with Indo/Pak musicBoys Riz MC, Heems and Redinho are a good feeling treasure like the cloth in Cashmere. Fun and fuming and dub/club mixed with Indo/Pak music make it something just a little like a Das Racist sophomore that didn't come prior. Full Review »