mastaghostface's Full Review: Will Rap For Food by Cunninlynguists
For those of you that read my reviews, you’ll know that I’m not necessarily easy to please when it comes to Rap music. But when I’m rating music, I take it seriously: I don’t like hurling five stars to every artist that I like just because I like them, or striking artists that I don’t like with 1 star just because I don’t. I really do give every song a fair chance, and listen to every song, add the ratings up, and divide by the number of songs to give the most equal rating that I can give. Because I feel that on this website, I have a duty to make sure that if you spend money on an album because of me, that it had better be because I gave an honest depiction of an LP’s quality.
That said, THIS ALBUM IS AWESOME!!!!!!
But, to do this right, I’m going to split it up into beats and rhymes to explain in the best way just how awesome this album is.
THE BEATS
I have never heard a better assimilation of production since the Wu Tang Clan albums of the early nineties. Kno, the main producer of this Hip Hop phenomenon and half of the Cunninlynguists, comes through with excellent cutting, sampling, and in general, amazing usage of his hands to mold fantastic beats to break your neck to. I would like to point out the highlights, though. “Lynguistics” kicks down the door with a rap song sample (by the way, a lot of those are used in this album, to great results) that explains the album, quickly followed by a chunky cello sample that punctures your brain and leaves it’s imprint through it’s sheer catchiness, with muted violins jumping around and a piercing high synth that shakes and shoots straight up and comes down, confirming a tight joint for the group to rhyme to. On “Mic Like a Memory” (possibly the best title on the album next to “Thugged out Since Cub Scouts”), a light drumbeat underscores somber xylophones while sweetly wailing trumpets blast and echo out, with a rap sample of “Hold the Mic like a Memory” being used as the chorus that brings this melancholy beat to a beautiful completeness. Right afterwards, though, Kno hands the reigns to Celph Titled to create fun vibes with an insane sample of splattering keys and banging drums that show how the underground does it when it comes to party songs. We tone it back down with “Missing Children,” which boasts tight drums, a creepy foreign singer’s voice that fades in and out, and synth line that sounds like it’s being muffled underwater. “Halfanimal” probably has the second best usage of a rap song sample, with a Nas/ Eminem sampling of “Half animal/half man!” and “half man, half amazing!” with a serious staccato bass and cello combo over a dusty drumbeat. Then, “Family Ties” strikes us with the saddest music sample I’ve heard since..... “Mic Like a Memory” with unhappy “la”’s, dark violins, cold piano chords, and a gritty drum beat. The absolute best beat HAS to be 𤂠 Rewind,” with the most suspenseful sample EVER, with menacing organs, xylophones, a shaking tambourine, snaps, and then, it all stops to make way for the screaming trumpets that are cut when the verse starts, where different parts of the beginning are used, and it’s so awesome, you just HAVE to hear it. Really, I can NOT explain it. And the other reason why this song is straight up the best is the lyrics. Oh wait, let me get to that.
THE LYRICS
My goodness, you can not make this many hot lyrics and not have taken at least 10 years to come up with them! I mean, WHAT THE... Really, I can’t explain this. Kno and Deacon the Villain are officially my favorite Southern lyricists (well, Outkast is, but CunninLynguists are at a photo finish with second place as their title.) Want reflective, heartfelt lyricism? Look no further than “Mic Like a Memory,” in which Cunninlynguists (plus a featured Kory Calico) rap about what keeps them producing music. Deacon is especially gripping, as he describes himself as having low self esteem, not helped by the fact that others would jeer his dreams of being a rapper because he was from the south (this album came out in 2001). And his rhymes, mixed with the stunning delivery are so emotional, that if you don’t feel him, you’ve got to be either dead or a robot. If you felt that wasn’t deep enough, let the anger incased in “Family Ties” wash over you, in which featured guest, Cashmere the Professional, writes a letter to his neglectful father and Kno writes one to his mother who abandoned him. The skillful writing of Kno’s verse especially pulls at the heart strings, with detailed accounts of his run-ins with his mom. Peep it:
“The human being you had deemed a mistake
Is now staring you in your face
It's a disgrace the way I was treated
Sh*t, you probably wish I got caught in the condom when my pops sk**ted
Well f*ck that I buck back all odds
And struck straight through your facade of camouflage”
Too serious for you? Well then, give “So Live!” a spin, a tight party track with fun rhymes to match. Or, for those who like exaggerated, dark-comedy-like silliness, check out “F*kinwichu,” in which Kno and Deacon rip on rappers, political figures, and the handicapped with the qualifying chorus that lets you know that it’s all jokes: ““You disrespecting me?” “I'm f*kinwitchu””. And it’s a chorus that they need to repeat after lines like these:
[Deacon]
Pimp through a hindu temple with a leather suit on
Stomp through a Japanese crib with muddy shoes on
...
Send David Duke a video of his daughter inhaling black c*ck
Tell fiends Marion Berry's crib is the new crack spot
[Kno]
I force feed Richard Simmons a big *ss bag of snickers
Challenge Christopher Reeves to a game of twister
...
I ought to chill but you still might see me nightly
At klan meetings, screaming out “kill whitey!”
Yeah, not a lot of political correctness here, but face it: you know you wanna hear the rest, don’t you?
Okay, maybe that song’s a bit too much. Maybe you just want some good ol- fashioned battle raps. Well, this album has no short supply of that. Normally, though, hear a bunch of battle raps would get boring after a while, because a lot of emcees don’t know how to keep it fresh. Well, if that were true, this wouldn’t be a five star album. This joint is packed with them, and Deacon and Kno are so creatively insane when it comes to metaphors and wordplay that you’ll be stuck between the choices of going forward to hear what they’ll say next or rewind and try to make sure your ears just heard something THAT amazing. The pinnacle of lyrical dexterity, as I have said before, comes at the tail end of the album with 616 rewind, and even though Deacon and Kno do provide awe-inspiring verses, it’s Tonedeff, the first to rap, who uses his speedy flow like a twister of metaphors, wordplay, and lyrical destruction. You’ve gotta check this out:
“Then ima let 'em and split 'em and add Feelin my wrath
Vagrantly depart to the south so dirty You want to be given a bath
...
In three nanoseconds (damn) Count your patients/
One step to Tonedeff You're gone in sixty seconds like Nicholas Cage is/”
Are there ANY drawbacks to this album?
There are some skits, but they are barely 40 seconds long and some are just musical interludes, making the album seem like a sketch show, and the curtains are going down to help you gather yourself together after too many tracks of perfection. The first and last skit serve as a reminder of the title, and they are short, but funny. As well, the only song that I can really say that I didn’t like as mcuh was “Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts”. It was supposed to be a satire of gangsta rap set to a childish tone, but I don’t think it worked as well as the other tracks in lyrical dexterity, even if they did that on purpose. I just didn’t like it that much.
That said, the good stuff more than makes up for any missteps, so I would suggest that you don’t waste another second to pick this up.
Best believe, Cunninlynguists have the hottest beats, and when it comes to rhymes, well, Kno said it best:
“Sh*t, when the lp rolls out/
The Source will be forced to make the quotables a three page fold-out/”
How right you are, my friend.....
1. "Will Rap For Food" (skit)
2. "Lynguistics" (4 out of 5)
3. "Mic Like A Memory" (feat. Kory Calico) (6 out of 5)
4. "So Live!" (Feat. Jayze) (5 out of 5)
5. "Hey" (skit)
6. "F*kinwichu" (5 out of 5)
7. "Ain't No Way" (Anetra and Mr. SOS) (6 out of 5)
8. "Missing Children" Braille (5 out of 5)
9. "Midnight" (skit)
10. "Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts" (feat. Jugga the Bully and Mr. Raw) (2 out of 5)
11. "Kno's Diggin" (skit)
12. "Halfanimal" (5 out of 5)
13. "Family Ties" (feat. Anetra and Cashmere The Professional) (6 out of 5)
14. "Dirty South" (skit)
15. "Mindstate" (5 out of 5)
16. "Takin' The Loss" (feat. Jugga the Bully) (6 out of 5)
17. "Not Guilty" (skit)
18. "616 Rewind" (feat. Tonedeff, Celph Titled, Kashal-Tee, and Sankofa) (6 out of 5)
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