Beat Smart

New Jersey hip-hop duo Dälek (pronounced "dialect") drops rhymes on Absence, its fourth album, as if the fate of democracy depends on it. MC Dälek spits lyrics as socially and politically conscious as those of Public Enemy, an obvious influence. But there's also plenty of room for producer Oktopus to inject bass-heavy beats that creep around the lyrics like a panther on the prowl. When it all comes together it's simultaneously deep and def.
Mon., Feb. 27, 9 p.m.