Photo courtesy artist

Portland rapper Bryson the Alien is celebrating his 30th birthday this week, but he's the one gifting fans.

On Monday, he shared an EP called Strictly Based, followed by a companion EP titled Strictly Inglish, which arrived on Tuesday (his birthday). As with his previous material, the new projects are out via his Sumalienz label, and there are again some noteworthy contributions. 

Strictly Based includes two tracks produced by Keyboard Kid, while Lil B produced the other two. Meanwhile, the Cool Kids' Chuck Inglish produced the four tracks on Strictly Inglish, and Fat Tony has a guest appearance on both projects.

For Bryson, who has long been a Variance favorite, this new music maintains his carefree lyricism, but he also tackles some heavier content, such as on the song "Why?," which features Fat Tony. The song nods to unimaginable loss so many people have experienced over the past year due to the pandemic and the global health crisis.

Hear the two rousing EPs below.