Summer Loving

Tee Double

Continuing his album-a-year strategy, the inexhaustible Tee Double stays the course on Gas Mask, a mixed bag of circuitous messages, detours, and straight lines. The local rapper/advocate/producer born Terrany Johnson jumps in with bloody ferocity by citing an ongoing lack of emceeing in "Global Extinction": "If I had a sharp knife/ I'd slit it down your larynx/ Play it like a clarinet." He also touches on "original man" and ancient kinetics concepts, subtle ("Message for Earth," "Asteroid Belts") and overt ("Black Fist Solid"). Unfortunately, and especially troubling for a nine-track project, these moments of dynamism show up few and far between. The awkward "Enjoying the View" means well in its agave-thickened sweet nothings. The remainder of the album is equally problematic, powder-puff production and preachiness. Tee spends a considerable amount of time telling you what today's MCs lack while elevating himself, but he's duplicating previous efforts.