What Box –Verbal Kent is "The Illest White Boy Since Lou Ferrigno"
Written: Oct 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good lyrics, solid production, talented guests, no skits.
Cons: Repetitive.
The Bottom Line: As solid as What Box is, the album’s greatest flaw is that Verbal Kent spits nothing that really captivates the listener.
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| madtheory's Full Review: What Box - Verbal Kent Movies |
Rappers who strictly drop battle/braggadocio verses enjoy a dubious distinction in rap at best nowadays (see: Canibus), but that doesn’t stop emcees like Chicago lyricist Verbal Kent from trying their hand at the art. Obviously not as dedicated to spinning elaborate narratives as his The Usual Suspects namesake, Verbal Kent’s talent lies in his ability to combine crafty punch lines and metaphor with rhythmic structure and phrasing to create venomous rap bars. Having spent the last five years honing his skills doing solo cuts in addition to performing as an emcee for the five-piece live Hip-hop band Organic Mind Unit, Kent steps out into the limelight with his solo debut, this year’s What Box.
Unfair as it is to compare every white battle rapper coming out to Eminem, What Box songs like “The Remix” practically beg for the comparison to be made. Here, Verbal Kent rhymes zany braggadocio similar to Slim Shady’s early days on the mic, the similarities between the two only further highlighted by the track that sounds ripped directly from Dr. Dre’s innermost Aftermath archives. Kent even manages a reasonable facsimile of one of the Detroit rapper’s patterns and reliance on shock value: “your songs make me feel depressed/ I couldn’t get excited if I were a pope and you were a boy in a dress.” “The People’s Rapper” is similarly Shadylike, Kent spitting barbs over an impish orchestral sample beefed up by low-end countercurrents and confrontational drums.
Still, even with the stylistic similarities to MTV’s golden boy, Kent does manage to distinguish himself often throughout What Box. Indie heads will be most familiar with Verbal Kent through his sharp “Alien Rock” single, a simple but gritty head-nodder with free-associative lyrics flowing over throaty bass guitar grooves. And though it’s the b-side for the “Alien Rock” single, “Combat” featuring One Man Army of Binary Star positively could have stood on its own. Both show their stripes as experienced lyricists, though Army’s wit is more subtle: “I weave and bob your punchlines, don’t ‘like’ your similes.” For a welcome but rare change of pace, the artist’s political and social musings over the translucent, galactic effects of “Power” allow him to show more depth than otherwise seen on the LP.
Naturally Verbal Kent isn’t about to let his solo drop without giving his affiliate artists a chance to shine. Iomos Marad and Willis Drummond II represent their native stomping grounds with “From The City,” the three vividly describing the pulse and attitude of the Chicago. Drummond, Rusty Chains, and Alltruisms are on hand for “Get a Job,” lacing the funky bass and bells loop with a dexterous round robin not-so-politely encouraging sucker emcees to consider finding a new vocation. Then, by far the biggest name on the album, Lyricist Lounge legend Wordsworth joins Verbal Kent and Rusty Chains in gushing unrelenting torrents of metaphor and invective on “Alley Rap,” making excellent use of the shadowy keys and punctuating orchestral hits.
As solid as What Box is, the album’s greatest flaw is that it contains nothing new that would serve to really captivate the listener. Verbal Kent’s superfluity of freestyles prove him to be solid in both rhyme structure and flow, but even with his affected vocal growl concealing the lightness of his voice, his eccentric verses will still only inevitably draw parallels to the Mathers Monopoly – an institution the emcee honestly isn’t brawny enough to stand up to yet. Similarly, the beats used throughout What Box will certainly keep heads nodding for the most part, but the production methodology is nothing new to anyone who has listened to Hip-Hop for any length of time. Still, while this album may not be as outside of the proverbial “box” as Verbal Kent would like, the skill and hunger shown on What Box does firmly establish him as one of the Chicago underground’s artists to watch in the years to come.
Track Listing:
01. Intro
02. First
03. The People’s Rapper
04. Tomatoes & Glocks
05. Alley Rap ft. Wordsworth & Rusty Chains
06. The Remix
07. Spit to Kill I
08. Big Buildings ft. Qwazaar & Willis Drummond II
09. Power
10. From The City ft. Iomos Marad & Willis Drummond II
11. Spit to Kill II ft. Matlock
12. Combat ft. One Man Army (Binary Star)
13. Alien Rock
14. The Zone ft. Rusty Chains
15. Spit to Kill III
16. Get a Job ft. Rusty Chains, Alltruisms, Willis Drummond II
Recommended:
Yes
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