Black Nasty

Shark Tank

Seeing as Black Nasty’s first album was AIDS Can’t Stop Me, subtlety isn’t really part of the game plan. On his third LP, the rap alter ego of Ted Beck (brother of local indie singer-songwriter Pink Nasty) continues dipping his wick verbally. There’s the come-on (“Three Hole Punch,” where he adds a bar about TGI Friday’s to his murder fantasy) and climax, but it’s hard to tell how much tongue is in his cheek. There’s the required collaboration: Bonnie Prince Billy duets on “Eazy,” a tribute to hero Eazy-E, and sister Pink Nasty gives a window into what growing up together must have been like on “Howz My Shit Taste?” Shark Tank should have been half as long, Black’s id exploding all over the place, so by track 24, “Bleu Ballz,” you’ve forgotten the disc’s nuances, such as how it kicked off with a Billie Holiday sample, which leads into a song where he threatens to feed a woman to a crack-addicted shark.

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This article appears in May 22 • 2009.

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