Beatbox
Has hip-hop's separation into coasts caused purchasing confusion? Well, somewhere in the wards of H-Town, former Geto Boys frontman
Scarface gots
The Fix. The remedy's prescribed in the strange fusion of Scarface's streety Southern storytelling and his new platinum-producing affiliation, Def Jam South. Jumping back and forth between rhyming with Jay-Z, Nas, Beanie Sigal, and the Neptunes, it's tracks like "On My Block" that have him creating classics we've come to expect, but then that's just the way he balls. "The Way We Ball" is a totally different story, from a totally different MC,
Lil' Flip, who with li'l talent and a pocketful of Screwed-clichés, sips the sophomoric s-iz-urp dry.
Underground Legend (Sucka Free/Columbia), a 2-CD set that should've been one disc, recants Southern-playeristic-ballin' mottos of the slow South. While Flip's "negotiating to buy the Rockets, might buy the Comets,"
Devin the Dude is just
Trying ta Live (Rap-a-Lot Resurrection), because he's "just a man" of simple pleasures -- women, chillin' weed, and an alien alter ego, Zeldar. Pondering questions like "What happens when the 'doobie ashtray' is empty?" this smooth installment's Motown vocals and humorous delivery is "fa sho" cool. Down Highway 290, I-10, 71, or whatever your preferred path to the Melodic Science of ATX, comes the bloodshot
Bonifide MC
Mirage, spitting continuously calm perspectives into his laxed life of R&R. Combined with Jay Dee-styled Slum Village-blurry "Boy Wonder" production from Arson Optics, Mirage rides the rhythm in a steady cipher of Sensimilla until tracks like "4:20" bring him to a deep slumber. Wake up, cause "beneath theatre seats" in the shadows of ATX,
Arctectonics are bringing the spark "to all the masses" with
Transistor, a seven-song 400-hand-numbered limited edition EP that goes where hip-hop barely dares. With DJ Glitch on the boards, the "electric highwaymen" take a raw stab at whimsically ambient violin-laced beats, Shakespearian prose, cut-up artistic noise, and altogether beautiful symphonics. "Yo," can't forget the godfather of ATX hip-hop,
Overlord, who's
Back At Ya (Dark Skin Music). Proving time and time again that he can bring swift lyricism while capturing the eclectic, hard-hitting sounds of the Live Music Capital, this 17-track selection has Overlord holding it down with help from his hometown, Generation ATX.
