Artist: Nick B.
Music reviewed: http://nickb.bandcamp.com/album/unexpected-thoughts-welcome
https://soundcloud.com/713nickb
Links: http://www.713nickb.com/
https://www.facebook.com/713NickB/
The end of Crystal Castles marked the
beginning of two promising solo careers. Both Ethan Kath and Alice
Glass released singles sounding eerily similar to Crystal Castles
output. What better way to peel away Crystal Castles fans? Put less
charitably, their musical marriage dissolved, they plotted to kidnap the
kids. Accusations flew: Kath can get a female singer
anytime he wants, as he did with “Frail”; while Glass can bum a musician/producer from HEALTH, and bring us “Stillbirth.”
But to my way of thinking, this question was settled long ago with
“Vanished.” The song was light, so Alice couldn't lay claim to some dark aesthetic. And the lyrics were Van She's, so neither could take credit for those. And yet Kath
elevated the source material to pop gold via a series of “bings”
that can only be likened to elevators and '80s department stores.
For the same reason, Houston-based
rapper Nick B also wins. Nick B fascinates by deep-diving a
diversity of sources for intriguing samples and production. And
since he's not confined to rapping about crime or drugs like a DMX or Clipse, Nick
B can follow the music on lyrical tangents. Is Nick B rapping over Raisi K the
Raisin Man's Pagliacci-inspired production? Then he uses it as an
opportunity to rap about being a sad clown. Rapping atop Jon Wayne's
kung fu movie-sampling “You Don't Want It”? Then Nick B can bring
battle raps like “Fruity ass niggas is Fanta / Yeah you pop, but
easily just fizz out.” Nick B even shows off his softer side on
slow jam “The Reasons” (“Make you think you little crazy / To
love this lady / And then have a baby”), and showcases his lovely
hook-singing on “Prepared (Prod. By The Deli).”
But even beyond using a diversity of
production to point in new directions, sometimes it's just nice to be
able to appeal to niche audiences with things like kung fu and video
games – the latter of which get the Nick B treatment on “Work”
and “The Message (Prod. By JonWayne).” There's a danger in
mixtapes though. Rapping over established producers like Knxwledge
can work wonders. But it's a tricky business trying to rap over a
producer as idiosyncratic as Flying Lotus. Very few can do it.
Kendrick Lamar earned kudos for doing so over Kamasai Washington.
But even Jay Z fell short of topping Jim Morrison on the
Doors-sampling “Takeover.”
Nick B's voice can occasionally break
high (as on “Contempt”), and can flow without enough tempo
changes. But these things can be forgiven on the strength of raps
like: “Hold up / 'Bout 9, 9-10 civilians / Wanna talk brilliant /
But don't do a damn thing” (“Playing Games (Prod. By dpeee)”).
And Nick B found the formula for minimizing these issues on “Art of
Fighting Ft. Suicide Scotty (Prod. By Illingsworth).” Just like
the Jacka, whose woozy flow carried the risk of getting stale if
uninterrupted, Nick B changes up his flow by including guest rappers like Suicide Scotty.
And when he does so over musically memorable production by Illingsworth,
Nick B's "Art of Fighting" nearly hits the highs of the Jacka's “45.”
By featuring guest rappers, and
continuing to tailor his fine lyrical content to tantalizingly
diverse producers and samples, Nick B can remain prolific and we'll
never get enough. In other words, if you didn't think I Love Lucy
could be turned into rap, you haven't heard Nick B.
*** The author of this review, Marvin
Freeman, plays the tan-tan for the following band:
http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8
