The Chi-City brothers formerly known as 2pak first officially launched as M.L.A. (Mint Lab Astronauts) with their debut music video for “The Take Off” (see: below), and tonight, they arrive with their first, full-fledged project under the new name; it’s called the (M)odern(D)ay(M)usic(A)stronauts EP. It’s 8 tracks with production solely provided by pak.one as he continues to evolve his sound with more unique samples of TV shows, movies, etc. and a mix of soulful and also modern, edgy, even futuristic aesthetics (naturally, given they’re astronauts). Vocally, both brothers spit with that raw, in-your-face flow that I’ve personally become accustomed to, yet it’s still refreshing to hear consistently across the project. The structure of the project is also refreshing as three of the eight tracks are solely instrumentals that uniquely add a smooth flow to the EP. My favorite of those (all very strong btw) is track 2: “Charon”.

Another couple standouts include the personal and revealing “Damaged Goods” and the tape’s conclusion: “For The Crew…”, which is a tribute track dedicated to those who have helped and supported the brothers along the way. You can’t help but appreciate the genuineness displayed and on top of that, the simple and catchy hook is simply a dope motto to live by: “Give love, get love, give love back”. I’m continually impressed with the progression of M.L.A. and suggest you catch on now if you haven’t already, and hit the blue link above for a free listen/download.

Also, if you’re in the Chicagoland area tomorrow night, we’ll be presenting M.L.A.‘s M.D.M.A. R.P. (the last one is release party, hah!) with our own DJ Marcus Shadden on the 1s and 2s. Get there at the Funky Buddha – more details and discount info is included after the jump (or on the sidebar).

PREVIOUSLY: ‎[M]int [L]ab [A]stronauts “The Take Off” [Music Video]