

Ukrainian Jewish South Brooklynite Your Old Droog (“buddy” in Russian, roughly) isn’t just a ’90s hip-hop head, he’s one of the many immigrant New Yorkers for whom rap was a cultural on-ramp to becoming American. Made on the heels of collaborations with lifers like Madlib and Mach-Hommy, Bread & Butter is both comfort food for fans of ’90s East Coast hip-hop and an example of why that sound is so enduring. “Brighton Beach” and “Bread & Butter” are dusty trips down memory lane, while the Flying Lotus and Georgia Anne Muldrow collaboration “I Don’t Care” puts him on a jagged beat that could’ve been The Neptunes circa Y2K. His superpower? He can make his braggadocio sound reflective.