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Boycott Blues | Irony

Brick (2009)
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  October 14, 2009
4.0 4.0 Stars
0910_boycottb_main

Here’s one way to interpret the title of the debut disc from Boycott Blues: on one paw, he’s a street cat who says “fuck it” for a fast ducat; on the other, this Roxbury beast laments the residual effects that come from poisoning his people and advancing cyclical oppression in the “concrete Congo.” Dude is Glenn Beck America’s foulest nightmare: young, black, and smart enough to give a fuck.

Irony is worth several hundred full listens. With emotional operatic ammo thundering behind him — mostly courtesy of intergalactic ghetto representative Insight — Blues both taps the pulse of blighted Boston and maturely represents frustrated clever hoodlums everywhere.

The commanding strings on “Blues’ Brothers” cradle his narratives; “Back Stroke” is genuine enlightened block fare; “Da Math” with Consequence is the hottest hip-hop track of 2009. Blues admits he has no solution for senseless street violence; still, his righteous poverty-themed rhymes are wise and intelligent far beyond his age and reputation.

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  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, New Music Releases,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY CHRIS FARAONE
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  •   MAIN MAN OF MATTAPAN  |  December 01, 2009
    Ask any group of teens on Blue Hill Ave how many of them rap and you'll get more affirmatives than you would surveying kids at Mass and Boylston for slap-bass skills. Allston might be a crab bucket of indie-rockers, and one in three JP residents is an abstract painter, but MCs in Boston's black communities have more competition than nail salons in Dudley Square.
  •   IBEW PRESSURES STOP & SHOP  |  November 24, 2009
    Folks driving past suburban Stop & Shop locations this week might wonder why laborers are suddenly concerned about food safety.
  •   TALE OF THE TAPES  |  November 25, 2009
    Soon after music-minded UMass-Boston management professor Pacey Foster signed on to write a Boston chapter for the most comprehensive hip-hop tome ever compiled, his mission brought him to rural Maine, where it has long been speculated that the Hub rhyme scene's Holy Grail is safely stored.
  •   WALE | ATTENTION DEFICIT  |  November 24, 2009
    It turns out there is merit behind the billion-dollar hype machine that’s been propelling Wale since he surfaced on the face of URB two years ago.
  •   REVIEW: THE BLIND SIDE  |  November 17, 2009
    It’s tough for any self-respecting critic to refrain from joyously tackling a Sandra Bullock movie — so it’s a good thing The Blind Side isn’t one.

 See all articles by: CHRIS FARAONE

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