Buck 65: Situation

Label: Strange Famous Records

So let’s talk about Buck 65, who, for reasons unfathomable to me, is not one of the biggest names in hip-hop. OK, it probably doesn’t help that he’s a clean-cut white boy from Canada, but he can rap with the best of them, and nowhere is his talent more evident that on his latest album, Situation, perhaps his best outing yet. It’s an hour’s worth of ferocious hip-hop, where Mr. 65 (making him a $1.15 better than 50 Cent) holds forth on myriad topics, squeezing so many ideas with his gravelly voice into his funky beats and sounds you wonder how he manages to catch his breath. And the music never overwhelms; he adds just the right touch, whether it’s a piano riff (“1957”) or the driving rhythms of “Bang.” This record will get the party started. That many mediocrities in hip-hop make millions while this prodigious talent wallows in obscurity is a true injustice in the musical world. Start listening to Buck 65 – now. (Ralph Pagan)