Situation - Buck 65 Album Review
Buck 65
Album Review
When I first volunteered to review Buck 65's latest effort, it was very much an unknown quantity. I was attracted to the promo not thanks to any affinity to the music, or even because of an interesting description but thanks to a press release which succeeded in saying nothing about the music I was to expect. It was so vague and rambling, in fact, that when I requested the promo I had no idea whether to expect an album or a single, let alone having any preconceptions over what genre of the music I was to expect. This has rather backfired for Buck 65, as it emerges he's a Canadian Hip Hop artist - not usually my millieur , and his vague press release, as entertaining as it was, has ensured his pride and joy has been passed onto someone whose hip-hop education goes as far as saying "I quite like that Jurassic 5 song." And yet, as it turns out - as clueless to hip hop culture as I am - I can confirm the album is rather good. A marvellous picture of a society's seedy underbelly, painted effectively with some outstanding lyrics. This is intelligent hip-hop - far more Kanye than Fiddy.
Indeed, over the course of the album he namechecks so many historical figures that you can't help but be impressed purely by the depth of pop trivia the man has: Sid Vicious, Che Guevara, Ed Gein and Thelonius Monk all get a mention over the course of the album. He's a man very much aware of his historical and musical heritage. So densely packed with entertaining imagery and clever sentiment is the album that it's a recording which takes a good few listens to get a grasp on, which makes it truly rewarding. Unfortunately on repeat listening, the sub-standard choruses grate that little bit too much (a bit unlucky that his lyrical weak links are the parts repeated 3-10 times each track.) Although the rhymes and lyrics for the most part, delivered in gruff but eloquent tones, succeed in ensuring that truly excellent lyrics (like rhyming "drowned in doubt" with "down and out") stand out with pleasing clarity, the choruses sadly don't stand up to much scrutiny. Take 1957, the stand out track, for example:
Like *Kzzzzrt*, hit the low note, we all go to heaven in a little row-boat
or Shutter Buggin', a song about a pornographic photographer defending his career choice, where a generally brilliant railing against middle American hypocrisy is derailed by the thoughtless chorus of:
Flashy-flash, watch the birdy, Flashy flash, wash the dirty
It's just too easy to laugh rather than nod appreciatively.
Another downer is that despite the quality of the lyrics, the sameyness of the delivery (though engaging) ensures that the further down the album you get, the less the album intrigues. Although he uses different instruments on different tracks, it's the drums that overpower the lot meaning that, in some cases, its hard to pick out the later promising tracks.
Buck 65, despite this being his tenth album, is unlikely to see a good deal of commercial success unfortunately - the lyrics are gritty and intelligent, but not in a way glamorous or accessible enough challenge the charts. The delivery is excellent, evoking Jurassic 5, and with a little more work on the choruses this could have gone all the way to a 5 star review. As it is, the contrived choruses, combined with the decline in quality as the album progresses ensure that this album hits the 4 star glass ceiling running. That said, if I as a big indie kid can say that, then Buck has still achieved something nothing short of incredible.
Gigs
- Mon 27th Jul 2009
