redmethodman's Full Review: High Society [PA] by Kottonmouth Kings
Orange County's Kottonmouth Kings are a cult phenomenon if ever there was one. Despite having only one gold record out of six released, their fans are loyal to the point where they're able to run their own record label, have several major national tours a year, and run their own clothing line, SRH (although since Beanie Sigel also has one, I guess that isn't that surprising). For those of you looking to get into the one and only psychadelic-hip-hop-punk rock group, their second full length disc, High Society and the first with vocalist Johnny Richter is a good starting point.
High Society
1)Kona Gold Greeting (N/A)
2)Here We Go Again (****)
3)First Class (***)
4)Day Dreamin' Fazes (****)
5)The Joint (***)
6)Good As Gold (***)
7)Face Facts (**)
8)Peace Not Greed (*****)- Featuring Jack Grisham
9)The Lottery (*****)
10)Round & Round (****)
11)King's Blend (****)
12)Anarchy Through Capitolism (N/A)
13)We The People (*****)- Featuring Sen Dog
14)Elevated Sounds (***)
15)UnXplanetory (****)
16)Wickit Clowns (***)- Featuring Insane Clown Posse
17)Coffee Shop (****)
18)Size Of An Ant (****)- Featuring Grand Vanacular
19)Crucial (****)
20)B-Dubb's Blend (N/A)
I'm going to be the first to admit the Kings are an acquired taste. If you aren't willing to submit yourself to song after song of punishing rock and techno influenced beats and more marijuana related rhymes than even Cypress Hill probably ever thought was possible, you're probably better off not picking up this disc. But if that sounds like your cup of tea, this is a good starting point for getting into the Kings, as some of the best songs they've ever done are on this disc.
We The People and Peace Not Greed are good starting points for the group's psuedo-philosophy of being anti-government because the government is anti-marijuana. Neither song features especially deep lyrics (sample from Sen Dog's guest rap: "We the people have the right to talk s**t/ the right to say 'f**k you!'/ and 'suck my d**k!'"), but at least what they do say is entertaining, and despite being a bunch of addle brained f**kups from Orange County, Kings' MC's Johnny Richter and D-Loc can really flow on the mic. They're also two of Kings' producer Daddy X's finest hours. We The People uses menacing piano chords and a hard-hitting drum pattern to augment the lyrics, while Peace Not Greed rides along on a thick, distorted guitar sample and some sampled background vocals. Very cool.
In fact, by and large the production is the main reason to hear this disc. By working at the edge of rap and not being successful enough to have any expectations of their sound, the Kings have been able to pull together all kinds of influences for their beats throughout their careers, and this disc is no exception. Day Dreamin' Fazes is an excellent electro-hip hop number while Here We Go Again and Crucial borrow liberally from dancehall. Old school keyboard melodies drive tracks like Size Of An Ant and UnXplanetory, while rock music's hard hitting thump can be heard on Wickit Clowns and Round And Round. Coffee Shop, with it's distorted background vocals and synthesizer melodies, is one of the best stoned beats i've ever heard. But best of all is The Lottery, which, far and away from being just the best beat X has ever made, is one of my favorite hip-hop beats of all time. The melody that runs through this song is just incredibly ill.
If only the vocals were as good. As I mentioned before, Loc and Richter have certainly got skills, but on this disc, Daddy X has largely abandoned the abridged rap verses that lent Royal Highness some of it's power in favor of trying to sing (SING!) on these tracks, and it absolutely doesn't work. He apparrently realized this and hasn't done it on the band's subsequent releases, but here it's a glaring flaw. The CD also features a mind-boggling five guest appearances from reggae vocalist Dog Boy. Sometimes his vocals work, like on Crucial, but most of the time I had the feeling the disc would be better off without him.
And then there's the guest shot by Eminem's arch rivals Insane Clown Posse on Wickit Clowns. I think i've made myself pretty clear on what I think of their music in other articles, so i'll just tell you this is more of the same. Fans will dig it. Others, like me, will just skip the last verse. But it is worth mentioning that Grand Vanacular, who guests on this disc, was one of the great undiscovered MC's of the late ninties. With a flow so rapid fire it rivals Twista's at times and stream of consciousness lyrics, this guy could've been a contenda. Oh well.
Lyrics have never been KMK's strong point, but they manage some good moments. The Lottery is interesting in the way it compares the government's favoring of the rich to a lottery, and the anti-government messages of some songs are amusing. King's Blend, about the King's entering a customized strain of pot in the Cannibus Cup is interesting storytelling. My favorite song lyrically though was Coffee Shop, a chronicle of the group's first trip to Amesterdam. As you can imagine, a group of herb worshippers in a country full of legalized pot is like a kid in a candy store, and it comes across in the song. I really liked one line: "(Ey yo, what you puff?) Can-i-bus/ you know that i'm so high....../ I forgot, what song is this?".
But for the most part, it's fairly generic stoner rap with a couple really awful moments. The Joint, in particular, is a song that could only be made by potheads. It's really tough for even a long time fan like myself to feign interest in a song about looking for a lost joint. And even the good songs have one problem: most of them go on for too damn long! Coffee Shop, for instance, has SIX verses, so making it to the end is tough. That's too bad, because it closes with a really impressive turntable solo as DJ Bobby B chops in a sample of Johnny Bravo saying "Oh Mama!".
CONCLUSION
If the Kings sound like they're up your alley, i'd reccomend picking up this or Hidden Stash 2 as a preview before investing in more of their catalog. Some will find this material incredibly stupid, but for myself and thousands of others across America, these dudes are the bong.
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