If anything, this newfound space has Benny feeling more experimental than usual. Just because University! is more stripped-back doesn’t mean it’s lacking for ideas. The pieces he does focus on put a minimal spin on his maximalist style. His half-dozen producer tags still crowd the margins like a Trapaholics bootleg download from LimeWire, but overall, he inverts his process by scaling his walls of sound back slightly. Synths and chimes on “Wildboy” and “Call Me!” flex the crisp atmospheric zen of Clams Casino-era cloud rap as much as they do MexikoDro-indebted plugg. The melodies on “Snow Boots On” and “Kno Where 2 Start” are muted, like they’re being played in distant rooms. His instrumentals are still jumpy, but there’s less going on all at once, with plenty of room for his rhythms and array of producer tags to stretch out.

From the project’s opening moments, it’s clear that Benny’s operating with a murkier, more spacious palette than before.