|
 GIGGS – Let Em Ave It
(XL/Remote Control)
Who: South London rapper who once did time for gun possession and would like to remind you about how that apparently qualifies him to be a rapper as often as possible.
What: Giggs has a singularly slow and low flow, which turns every track into a steady rumble. It’s distinctive but it’s also boring, because he never changes it over these 18 tracks. Whether he’s rapping about how laid he gets or how paid he gets, it’s all the same. It doesn’t help that his lyrics are mediocre, too. “They treat me like I don’t exist but I am so existing” is just embarrassing.
Well: The cover art shows him blasting a cop and a judge with his authority-figure-destroying voice like the rap Black Canary, but really vocals are his weakest point.
*
 JULES CHAZ – Toppings
(Wagon Repair)
Who: Canadian beatsmith on the instrumental hip hop tip.
What: Toppings is 21 tracks of minimal bleeps-and-beats sampledelia. Most of it’s instrumental, although Canadian MC Ishkan does make an impressive appearance on Could Happen. A lot of it’s background music, but standouts include the Jamaican-themed Whipits, Saysumthin – one of several Bollywood-referencing tracks – and Blak Lodge, built on Julee Cruise’s haunting Falling from Twin Peaks.
Well: This is one for fans of J Dilla, DJ Krush and Odd Nosdam, though it’s not quite as vital as those at their best.
***½
 KRIZZ KALIKO – Genius
(Strange/MGM)
Who: Tech N9ne’s offsider and live show hypeman.
What: Calling your second album Genius would seem like an ego gone mad anywhere but hip hop, where I wouldn’t even think to comment on it if Kaliko didn’t have a definition of the word right at the start of his album. Genius is all over the place as far as genre goes. Butt Naked Fun is Usher-style R&B about exactly what it sounds like it’s about, while Misunderstood sees him getting his Cee-Lo Green croon on, admitting he’s a monster but a kind of lovable one to a backing built out of the theme from The Munsters. Bipolar is personal confession, reminiscent of his first album’s discussion of his Vitiligo.
Well: Kaliko’s strength as a hypeman is his ability to match and support someone else, but he doesn’t have a strong voice of his own. Misunderstood is definitely worth checking out, however.
***
 TECH N9NE – K.O.D.
(Strange/MGM)
Who: Kansas MC with a changeable flow and the ability to rap like he’s making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.
What: Tech likes his murder music, but even by his standards K.O.D. (King Of Darkness) is a nasty album. It begins with the growling anger of Show Me A God, which details his mother’s failing health and his own failing sanity and faith. He goes from raging against a non-existent God to raging against everyone in the world, but with the theatrical over-the-topness of Hail Satan heavy metal. In Blackened The Sun he boasts that “Everything I fuck straight explodes” while In The Trunk is an Eminem-style fantasy about kidnapping. Apparently writing and recording K.O.D. was so psychologically confronting for Tech that he swore off the evil stuff, and I’m not surprised. However, the final track does have someone singing the album credits, which is an oddly self-effacing note to end on. Maybe he’s not so bad after all?
Well: This dark carnival of madness and badness makes Insane Clown Posse and Necro look like wussburgers. Bonus points for referencing Devil’s Haircut to prove just how evil he is.
***½
JODY MACGREGOR
|
| Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged. |
|
Be first to comment on this article
