Whitman Speck - You Can't Survive

Hear The Track Here

Whitman Speck is, by his own definition, 'a schizo rapper from the suburbs...' He 'took my name from mass murderers Charles Whitman and Richard Speck' and is 'London's illest lyricist, spittin' the sickest rhymes you've ever heard'. All of which I heartily agree with. He is all that, and a bit more besides. But let's start at the beginning. Whitman Speck appeared and knocked me out with a track called Suburban Hell (September 2008), to which I wrote that he was a 'confident, swaggering, in-your-face-f*ck-off-and-die rapper' and that 'judging by this track, Whitman Speck is just asking to have his whole collection hoovered up for future reference'. So at this stage of the game I have reviewed four Whitman Speck tracks and each of them has been a milestone in its own right and well deserving of the Must Have rating I hung on them. Having said that, re-read what I wrote to start this whole thing off. Fact is, Whitman Speck is one of the strongest rappers I've EVER come across in terms of the lyrical content.

My mind is still tickled every once in a while with a blast from Dead Or Alive (February 2009), a heart-warming ode to the joys of necrophilia and/or ******* anything in sight routine. Obviously Granny and the kids are not the target audience. Truth is, I'm not sure precisely who the target audience is, but I know I like Whitman Speck and I like him for his lyrical style but also I absolutely love his rhythmic toughness, each one of his tracks is as hard as the lyrics, each note slamming the images into the deepest corners of your mind. So obviously I'm sold on the guy, but would you be? You Can't Survive, Like all WP tracks, carries a Parental Advisory and is accurately classed as hardcore rap so don't say you weren't warned.

Believe me, you don't want to meet this guy on a dark night.

You Can't Survive opens up on the crime scene, and the beat slams in as Whitman starts to bring the scene to awful, blood soaked life. Musically, I found this track a lot more of a commercial sound than I have heard from this musician too, but it actually fits the track perfectly. I know, for a fact, that this is going to piss the boy off because he hates being compared to Eminem, but having blistered my ears off lately with the Blond One's latest masterpiece, I find them a very, very close match. I think the reason for that is twofold; culturally there are bound to be resonances between these two musicians but more than that, they both put forward certain qualities that I find very listenable. Both are confident, accomplished storytellers with an often compelling tale to tell, and they back this up with some of the best music hip hop has to offer. If you think its a bit rich comparing London's Whitman Speck with Detroit's Finest, I urge you to check out this track, or any other Whitman Speck track I've mentioned.

Highly Recommended Horror rap but beware, here be beasties.