eff that CYMK noise anyhow
Today's pick comes from a real character. This CD snuck into my listening pile, snuck its way to the top, infiltrated iTunes, and clocked in damn near the top (no one can touch Van She!) of the frequently-listened-to list, Ides of March edition. It's not hard to see why when you give his current/debut CD ...5, 6, 7, 8 a whirl.
A quick note to haters - yes, this guy is empirically a white emcee. But his rap game falls way outside of either cliché indie hip-hop, or even hiphop as an entire genre. It's obvious that he drops plenty raps into his songs, but it's equally obvious that he's doing something that is almost entirely original, using raps as one key style element among many, many others. Style is something he has in spades.
Right off the bat, the production he's crafted for this album hits you right in the jiggybone. His beats are fresh, fun, bouncy, full of energy and finally do something new with the stagnant sound palette used to produce most whatever-hop tracks nowadays. Electronic blips and farts, strings, big ole drums hits, guitars, whatever - everything is in its right place.
This track in particular demonstrates that the kid can sing as well as rap, but what you don't get from this track is the mockery and humor that the Kid has to offer. The guy is a true entertainment professional - other songs on the album zing rappers, music, the industry, and pretty much any other legitimate target with a dry and sharp wit that still cracks me up when I hear certain lyrics (Instant Messenger Ass?!). If you want a taste of his satirical side, there is plenty of mischief and personal quips over on his Blog.
The trickiest thing about writing up this CD is that you'd be forced to call the Gray Kid a rapper if you had to, but you don't want to. It's too narrow a description, and it paints a very limited musical image of what he's all about. Plenty of folks may make the mistake of thinking of his CD along those lines, judging it as such, and dismissing is at such, but they're only seeing the tip of the melting icecap. You can't call this Gray Kid album a hip-hop album (or stick it in any other genre) any more than you could for Andre 3000's The Love Below. Go ahead - try to classify it. You can't. That's why the ID3 tags allow for that "unclassifiable" genre, as it applies in cases such as this. If you've got a sense of humor, a healthy love for quality production and like hand-crafted beats full of bump and soul, this is a strongly recommended listen. If you like your music like your sock drawer and get freaked out when music falls outside of the finite number of music chart genres, then this might twist up your noodle a bit, but don't worry, change is good.
You can pick up ...5, 6, 7, 8 or listen to additional tracks over at iTunes, or at your local store. Happy hump day!