MF Doom
MM..Food
(Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2004)
www.rhymesayers.com

As far as traditional styled beats go (as opposed to the Anticon/Plague Language style) no one does it better than Doom. Period. Concept albums galore, Doom doesn’t rest. MM..Food, technically the follow up to Operation: Doomsday, continues the goofiness which is much appreciated. I mean, “Hoe Cakes,” what’s better than that? But amidst all of the jokes, Doom really talks about human relationships. In “Deep Fried Frenz” he says, “Call you when they need something/Trees for the Bluntin’.” See, Super-Villains don’t like to be taken advantage of either. They have feelings. A vocal sample on “Poo-Putt Platter” says “Negro humor always escaped me,” and I say that I may miss a Jesse Jackson reference every now and then, but it’s amusing nonetheless. Grover, amuses me too, and it sounds as if he’s talking on “Fig Leaf Bicarbonate.”  I would like more than a single Guinness. And as if Doom knew it, he had Angelika guest on that track. It’s rare to hear good rappers and even more rare to hear good rappers that happen to be female. “How come all of you college boys wear those faggoty white shoes?”  Good question.  Only more entertainment follows. I have nothing all that deep to proclaim. But I do know that this slab is worth the price of listening. Mr. Fantastik and Doom thought about knishes for god’s sake, come on.

Psyche Origami
The Standard
(Arc the Finger, 2005)
www.arcthefinger.com

Concept albums are always difficult to grasp fully.  Or any album actually, because you as the listener have no idea what exactly the artist/group is trying to say. There can be approximations, there can be guesses, but nothing is definite. That’s part of the problem with The Standard. Relating each track metaphorically and literally to working at a gas station, which I can tell you is less than glamorous, on occasion comes off perfectly and then at other times, not so much. The greatest achievement of this disc is without question the production, which is interesting and thought provoking most of the way through. Upon first listen, the beats sound like anything from the J5/Dialated Peoples axis of hip hop, with a bit more atmospheric noise thrown in.  If nothing else there are a good number of actual musicians playing distinct parts throughout the release. Unfortunately, on repeated listening, the drums (sampled or otherwise) don’t always gel with the live instrumentation. It’s still above par production. Lyrically, there seems to be no new place to go - just a different setting. That’s not to say that I don’t agree with what I understand the album to be saying about crass consumerism, but each of us have heard it before. Maybe I missed the whole point, seeing as I’m just a critic. But the deciding factor on whether or not this is a good album is figuring out if Psyche Origami is creative enough to be cocky. I can’t say, but where are the modest rappers at?