Museum Music
Museum Music is the second studio album by the American rapper Edward Skeletrix, self-released on January 1, 2025. A double album, it was categorized by critics as rage, a subgenre of hip-hop. It follows Edward's debut studio album Skeletrix Language, and was promoted with an art exhibition in Manhattan. Museum Music received mixed reviews; some critics felt it fit the current wave of underground rap, while others considered its sound unique.
Background and release
started as a visual project in 2019. He began releasing singles in 2023, and released his debut album Skeletrix Language in December of that year. To promote Museum Music, Edward held an exhibition in Manhattan, New York, during which he sat inside a glass box. The album was self-released on January 1, 2025. It is a double album; the first side was released under the artist name "Im A Monster", and the second under "Edward Skeletrix".Composition
Museum Music is a hip-hop and rage double album. Writing for Complex, Jon Barlas said it was "a call and response; one album doesn't make sense without the other." The Guardian called it "zonked-out electronic rap that feels as if it's on the verge of disintegrating." On its "Im A Monster" half, the lyrics examine mental illness. Museum Music features Auto-Tuned, melodic vocals. The beats on the album incorporate loud, glitchy synths, which Pitchforks Alphonse Pierre compared to Drain Gang and F1ilthy. Pierre also said that the track "Life's So Funny feat. o0o" sounded like a parody of Travis Scott's "My Eyes". On the song "Label Meeting", Edward calls out the relationship between the teenage rapper Nettspend and his older mentor DJ Phat.Critical reception
HotNewHipHops Alexander Cole wrote that "if this is the direction that music is heading, then perhaps Skeletrix is the Underground's Kanye West." Cole also felt the album "very much fit the current wave of underground rap." Conversely, Barlas felt Edward "does something different" with the "vast compositions and ghostly dark-trap" of Museum Music. He highlighted the tracks "Plastic Body" and "Blurry Picture ". In a negative Pitchfork review, Alphonse Pierre described Museum Music as a "big, cryptic troll job." He said that the album had "no vision of an alternative sound or perspective" and called it "just the same kind of ultra-polished, opaque, creative-director rap that could be made by anyone with a few fashion world co-signs".Museum Music came in 44th place in The Fader's Best Albums of 2025.