Buck 65
'Situation'
WEA/Warner


The two years Buck 65 gave us to get over the bipolar 'Secret House Against the World' LP are over, and like the two years after 2003's acclaimed 'Talkin' Honky Blues', it's pretty obvious that the time was necessary. Both for the iconoclastic alt-rapper to immerse himself in a new theme and aesthetic, and for the listeners to get over the sheer originality of the previous release.

Themed on what Buck 65 considers to be one of the most important years of the 20th Century, 1957, 'Situation' is a return to his earlier, more strongly hip-hop orientated work. Gone are the lush, country blues soundscapes of 'Talkin' Honky' and the first half of 'Secret House...', only to be replaced with firmly head-nodding beats, which are always complementary and quirky. Rhythmic and stripped back rather than layered and textual, Lipstick is an example of the direction his style has taken. Buck speaks from 50s pin-up girl Bettie Page's point of view over a bare-bones break, while a couple of high, haunting guitar strums fill out the choruses with an eerie mood made all the more effective by the contrast.

Buck's flows, while not multi-layered tangents of complex metaphors and tongue-twisters, suit (and indeed, create) the mood so effectively that it doesn't matter that sometimes it almost sounds like he's talking. His hoarse voice constructs vivid, mostly dark images about drug busts (Spread 'Em), outcasts (Mr. Nobody) and good old fashioned American family values (White Bread).

'Situation' doesn't really have a fault in its own right. It's main flaw is that it's such an unconventional hip-hop album that fans on either side of the great hip-hop divide could potentially feel alienated. Most people who've heard Buck 65 before know where they stand, and on this album he's still doing what he's always been doing. The end result is that those who appreciate his completely individual approach to the genre won't want to miss 'Situation'.

Oh. And he quotes Ginsberg as his very first line. Art rap English nerds rejoice.

Ben Ford-Smith