Wiseguys
The Antidote
[Hi-Ho/Wall of Sound/Mammoth]
Rating: 7.9
Being the soulless, square, suburban son that I am, I can honestly say
that I really haven't paid attention to rap music in a long while-- in
fact, nothing's really made an impression on me since Public Enemy's Fear
of a Black Planet. De La Soul, Schooly D, and the Beastie Boys' brilliant
Paul's Boutique still hold a place in my Volkswagen hood ornament-
covered honky heart, as well as NWA's hilarious and brutal Straight
Outta Compton.
It seems rap, like most mainstream pop music, is all about making
money, and just takes itself too damn seriously-- the industry's basically
become a fucking zoo overrun with bellicose Uzi- toting hucksters possessing
nary an ounce of talent for anything except shameless pimping. Hardly
anyone seems intelligent enough anymore to touch upon what rap seemed to
be all about in the first place-- scathing humor, urgent street- savvy
social commentary, and beats that could still make even the stiffest ass
wiggle. Then, just hours ago, I popped in the Wiseguys' The Antidote.
Rap's saving grace may be upon us, people-- it's just the right blend of
Miles Davis cool, warm funked- up beats, social awareness with an edgy sense
of humor, and a plain ol' old school sense of fun.
Sure, I mean, the old school rappers were notorious sexists sometimes, too;
but, hey so was Axl Rose, people. And plenty of cash- horny ho's like Sheryl
Crow and Lucy Kaplansky now cover "Sweet Child O' Mine" like it's goddamn
"Scarborough Fair." So I'll ask you, general public, what the fuck happened
to Ice-T, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, the Geto Boys, and the Public Enemies of the
world? And who the fuck was that overstuffed Notorious B.I.G. trash- bag and
why should I give a shit that he's dead? Brotha Michael just don't
understand, I guess.
Now, if I may be self- indulgent and autobiographical for a moment, I
witnessed a strange rap- related phenomenon as an adolescent. During my
freshman year in high school, I was forced to attend a public high school
in Texas with a student body consisting of around 1,050 upper- middle class
caucasians, heaped on top of the low rung of the school's socio- economic
ladder: an introverted middle class white boy (me), a black kid named
Chucky, and an outcast Latino named Lester. Now, because of an unfulfilled
jock past, my father forced my wimp ass to play all sports-- including
basketball. This meant being forced to mingle and travel with a bunch of
snotty, pigmentally- deficient jocko homos, all of whom spent every waking
moment attempting to live out what they felt to be the Black Experience.
Well- supplied by their rich parents, all of my peers were clothed in the
latest Adidas regalia, custom NBA- quality sports wear, Nike Airs, etc. They
had the jam boxes and Walkmans ablast, bobbing their heads arrythmically to
Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Cameo, and Oran "Juice" Jones-- the soundtrack to
their adolescent daydreams of being nubian warriors spawned from the Ghetto
streets. In the halls of that whitewashed suburban school, it wasn't
uncommon to witness a group of upscale polo- shirted mama's boys form an
adoring circle around an ambitious, well- heeled rhythmically- challenged
kid attempting to breakdance like someone from the cast of "Breakin',"
"Beat Street," "Krush Groove" or the other worm- bustin' films of the day.
It was both sad and humorous, really.
What's my point? Well, after childhood experiences like the ones described
above, I think it's understandable why I've always looked at rap music with
a strange, paradoxical attraction/ aversion. But after an extremely
circuitous route in getting to the point, I'll return to the real subject
here: the Wiseguys. They bring a sense of fun, creative wordplay, a
legitimate experimentalist bent, and excitement in general back to rap and
hip-hop that I've really missed. I mean the dope shit just don't stop
y'all. "Ho-tel, mo-tel, holiday inn..." oops, sorry. I can't help but
marvel at the ingenious layered stream of beats and sounds these guys
effortlessly mesh together.
Check out the Zeppelin- esque overtones on "Face the Flames." Or groove to
"Cowboy '78" where they astutely sample the quirky chants from Ennio
Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" theme, while also slipping in
a nice little flamenco guitar passage every now and then. In this song, as
is the case with most of their songs, the sound layers just keep building
and expanding in density and diversity as the beat steadily rolls on 'til
the final climactic end. "Cowboy '78" is probably the funkiest western rap
theme you've ever heard. That is, of course, unless you're a devotee of
white Middle America's favorite non- threatening unfunky homeslice, Will
Smith, and his hardcore rap smash "Wild Wild West."
On "The Grabbin' Hands," the guys even manage to reference Depeche Mode's
"Everything Counts" and make it groove in a context that's catchy as hell.
They're lyrical acrobats, too. Check it out: "You ain't hot/ No matter
how much gold ya got/ ...Crack vials/ They line the aisles/ Where I'm from/
Some brothas get wild grabbin' guns/ So I'm stabbin' one/ With my lyrical
machete." And they pull at my heartstrings on the lounge-rap of "The
Executives," with sampled vibraphone and some breezy Hammond organ. "Start
the Commotion," boasts some of the most standout guitar sound byte sampling
since the Geto Boys swiped that stunning soul- drenched riff on 1991's "Mind
Playing Tricks on Me."
The Antidote forces my rigid white bones into motion, moving and
shaking my skeletal structure and posterior in ways I hadn't previously
thought possible. The Wiseguys' hip-hop hearts are definitely in the right
place. They lay it down jazzy and smooth, baby, with just a little sprinkle
of toxic humor on top. It's not exclusive stuff, either, and just when you
thought everything worth sampling had already been stolen a hundred times
over, they continually surprise your jaded ass.
The bubbling sonic brew on The Antidote culls its ingredients from so
many varied sources, it's nothing short of astonishing. Sure, there'll
always be the annoying, self- conscious white hipsters who make it a point
to listen to this kind of thang just for shallow, extrinsic purposes-- like
putting on a show for friends just to seem attuned to cultures more rich in
musical tradition than their own. But, in the end, so what? Good music is
good music. Who or whatever the hell you are, go out and discover the
Wiseguys, and get down wid' da def dope hype tip, boyee. And word up, too.
Sorry, readers, bear with me. My mental archive of hip-hop slang hasn't
been updated since, like, 1987.
-Michael Sandlin