The MC Faceman "#wordemupskislopes"

In an era when artist are so afraid (or incapable) of doing albums that are linked by a common concept, The MC Faceman has made a name for himself by doing just the opposite. His album's always a strong link of ideas from track to track, except for "#wordemupskislopes" which as he says on "wordemup YO!!!" (the album's first song) "just got some dope tracks on it." And damn it I cannot blame him for putting this out, because he is right, there certainly are some dope tracks and I'm glad he didn't sit on the tracks because they didn't fit into an album, sometimes you need to release something that is dope track, no need for a concept (as long as you do that sometimes, be an artist people.) So instead of my usual extended rambling let's cut to the chase, here we go.

The sound of an organ (which would've fit perfectly in Faceman's previous album "Tales from the Sick") kick off "wordemup YO!!!" which I assume will be a main stay in future live performances if for nothing else, that clear set up for a call and response situation. This is easily one of the standout tracks of this album, with Faceman spitting just one verse that comes in at under a minute but it is pure heat in which he rhymes hubris, Horus, whore us and chorus and changes the pace and breaks mid delivery to make it work beautifully.

If you think you're going to get to just chill while listening to this album, "Piff Wit It" reminds you that will not be allowed as Swollen Drums crafts a beat that would fit into a club DJs mix no problem. Warren S. Britt (who has one of my favorite lines on the project "you're nice without the N, I'll let that ass melt") and Precise I.V. join Faceman on the track. This a straight banger. The style and sound of "Who Benefit?..." is almost in direct opposition to the previous track. This time Faceman shows his conscious (political, revolutionary, or whatever you) side as he goes after the government and big business for their attempt to control all aspects of our lives through a variety of paths (military, media, food, government.) This is one of the things that impresses me about the MC Faceman, his ability to handle mutiple styles and aspects of hip hop so seamlessly.

"Hello Rider" offers the listener a taste of horror rap or whatever it is called nowadays, and even though I rarely enjoy tracks like this (just not my style) Faceman and Eric Choy pull it off rather well. There is one thing missing though, OZZY OSBOURNE. If there was a hip hop track that called for Ozzy this is it, in fact this could be a Black Sabbath rap track and it would work spectacularly, great work by Anno Domini to create that atmosphere. Judging by the title you would think "Inner Demons" might fit into the same style and you would be partially correct. But it has a dramatically different feeling that stems from the violin driven beat of KO Beatz. Only the end of each verse (where the Inner Demon speaks) has that horror rap feel the rest is very introspective (which is of course the idea of an inner demon.)

Fair-weather friends (something that we are all too familiar with) are addressed on "Bobbleheads,"another standout. The beginning of the first verse sums up the song and idea perfectly, "Hopefully you've got friends you can trust, not pretend grins whose ends are what they lust, because those limbs must be cut." But do not think those are the only dope lines in this track (or the rest of the album for that matter, just do not feel the need to quote each line to you.)

MC Faceman and OTiS CLaPP decide to lift us up (off of our asses) on "Save The World." Vega provides a drum and guitar heavy beat for both MCs to get their message to us to make this world a better place and remind us that we have to do something to make that way and inform us "Only people can save the world, but we would much rather prefer to ruin it." In other words stop making this world a worse place and live right (as individuals and as a society.) The most unconventional beat (sitar, fife, bass drums) is provided by Luger McCoy on the album's closer "(p)Imperialism." The MC Faceman shines on this track blasting the U.S. government for their creation of paper foreign governments, love of big business, and the federal reserve.

While the MC Faceman says in the first track that this album "just has some dope tracks on it" it is more than that. This album, more than his other more concept driven albums, show his diversity. Whether conscious rap, party rap, or horror rap, Faceman can just from sub genre to sub genre with ease but still make it cohesive enough that you can call this an album and not just a bunch of previously unreleased tracks. So here is to hoping that Faceman keeps it up on his next release whether it is idea driven album or just a bunch of dope track.

Stream and download the entire album here