Christian A. McLaurin records as Signor Benedick the Moor, a rapper who is as interested in music theory, the Renaissance, and Shakespeare as he is in spitting bars. You’d come up empty trying to find another artist quite like him. After all, how many rappers employ Gregorian chant for backing production like he does on “Mouth of the Beast”?

It might sound like a schtick, but Signor Benedick makes it work to an almost eerie effect. This is an era-mashup on par with A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court and it’s one of the more stimulating hip-hop releases I’ve heard this year.

Grab his full-length debut El Negro via his Bandcamp page, and keep your eyes peeled for a release on the forward-thinking Deathbomb Arc sometime next year.