Whitman Speck - Jack The Rapper

Hear The Track Here

Regular readers, or at least the more wussy minded of them, are presently heading for the hills because they know this way something wicked comes. Whatever else you might think though, Whitman Speck is a hardcore hiphop rapper from London, England. Now the most important thing you need to know here is that Adil (aka Whitman Speck) has a fascination for serial killers, the bandname for example is a mix of two serial killers names. The bulk of the tracks I have reviewed - three so far and all rated Must Have by me - definitely live up to the term 'horrorcore' that has been linked to songs in this style. So if raw, visceral lyrics tend to offend then start running now.

Take for example, Dead Or Alive (February 2009) which Adil terms a 'funny song about necrophilia' which it is, but my God it really deserves the Parental Advisory that accompanies this artists entire output. Tell you what, he got some stones on him this boy. Jack The Rapper features samples from the incomparable Ray Charles hit 'Hit The Road Jack, alongside other audio detail to run down a tale about a guy who wander the night 'looking for a throat to slit' Mmmmm Nice. Regardless of the lyrical content, the way the music track and rap work together is inspirational. No matter what you may say about Whitman Speck for my money he is one of the freshest rappers on Soundclick and I'd back him for a fair distance outside of that site too.

'I am the illest rapper of all time' he says, before the Ray Charles riff hits your ears, followed smartly by the rap itself, set against eight to sixteen bars of the music track which works surprisingly well. It takes a rare skill to keep interest with rap, and part of the secret is to get people interested in the story being told and this is where Whitman Speck scores big time. A confident rapper totally secure with the idiom he has chosen to work in and more power to him I say. I know that Adil lives across London from me, but if I didn't know that I'd swear that was some big time American joint. All except the classic, totally unexpected WS ending. :)

MUST HAVE (sheesh) horror rap.