2slicc - Don't I Smell Rich/Shut It Down

Hear The Track Here

Boston based hip hop rapper 2slicc (see what he did there!) is a new name to me, review request coming though the RebelRiffs blog which btw accounts for fully half the tracks I am reviewing this month. What this means, in short, is that almost all of the requests are from people I've never heard before and that makes me a very happy bunny. So, as many of you know, I have a bit of a taste for hiphop, having grown up with it in my own life from the very early days (1980's) to the present and - I have to say - I do hold the current state of commercial hiphop in contempt, largely because of misogynistic, materialist views Remember, for every buck you have, someone else starves. (Ed: God Gilmore, that's laying it on a bit thick...)

Note the use of the word 'commercial' there though, because I am certainly nothing like as pessimistic when I survey the legions of unsigned hiphop artists, mostly on Soundclick, whose music is - on the whole - honest and forthright. Unlike most wannabees who are famous in their own bedrooms, it looks like 2slicc has no such problems about getting in front of an audience, as his list of gigs will show. Now, in my world, there is NO substitute for trying your act out on real, living people; the instant response is unbeatable for showing you what works and what doesn't. Consequently, as you can imagine, I expected something a bit special from this artist. After all, I've heard enough of the bedroom wannabees to be able to spot the difference. For his part, 2slicc comes across as more than focused, although the tune, for my money anyway, wasn't really up to task but that's often the case.

Having said that, the music isn't bad, just a bit uninspiring is all. Yeah but surely that's the point right, is the beats and rap that matter most. Well, sure, but only up to a point, know what I mean? I have, for example, heard very few rappers who can hold their own against totally stripped down beats, and even fewer who can actually carry a tune. So 2slicc, therefore is treading some very familiar ground and - as such - may find it a bit hard going at least at first to build a credible net audience. There is a lot of ignorance online about what constitutes hip hop and these two tracks are probably not going to widen the argument any but 2slicc probably doesn't care anyway, all got to start somewhere, right? If you have the impression that I don't like this, I do but not as much as maybe I should have seeing as all the parts were present, just somehow missed that all important G spot g.... Mind you, Shut It Down was considerably tougher and much more my style and that probably says it all.

Recommended hip hop nonetheless.