The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Big Hurt  |  CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Jazz  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
Best2012Vote-1000x50

Ape & Undu | Jaw & Order

Trapjaw (2009)
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  February 3, 2010
3.0 3.0 Stars

 OTR020510_Jaw_main

This is not your typical bi-racial indie-rap duo with a whiteboy who rips and a tandem token black guy who holds the honky's jockstrap. Ape$hit and Undu Kati are MCs from different branches of the same style tree — sort of like New Hampshire's answer to Capone-N-Noreaga.

Although he's been New England's battle-rap champ (off and on) for several years now, Ape escapes the stigmata that often attach (deservingly) to artists blessed with improv prowess. In fact, other freestyle masters might want to sample his technique: dude rhymes just the way he does in combat, with a half-clumsy cadence fit for clever antics and the occasional enlightened snap.

Over delicious and in some cases impressively ironic sonic slabs, Undu proves comparably competent, and the Bronx-born Granite State transplant shines with Ape alongside such esteemed guests as Apathy ("Gotta Be the Shoes") and King Magnetic ("Attack!!"). Even yawners like "That's Not Me" are worth a few rotations, as each blimp of a line is fueled with equal parts blue flames and hot air. That's a compliment, because even when Ape$hit is just flinging diarrhea, there's always some serious stank on it.

Related: Ghost stories, Wanting more, Photos: Most popular slideshows of 2009, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Arts,  More more >
| More

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 02/13 ]   "Aphrodite and the Gods of Love"  @ Museum of Fine Arts
[ 02/13 ]   "Processes and Dreams"  @ Panopticon Gallery
[ 02/13 ]   "Artists' Books: Books by Artists"  @ Boston Athenæum
ARTICLES BY CHRIS FARAONE
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   J THE S | THE LAST DAYS  |  February 07, 2012
    J the S has been promising The Last Days since he went by Jake the Snake.
  •   HE WILL NOT BE MOVED  |  February 03, 2012
    A few months ago, Boston hip-hop vet Marco Antonio Ennis stepped into a home studio in Dorchester to cut a verse for an old friend's teenage son.
  •   WILL GOVERNOR PATRICK STRIKE OUT?  |  January 25, 2012
    Governor Deval Patrick used part of Monday's State of the Commonwealth address to break his public silence on pending law-enforcement legislation.
  •   OCCUPYING THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY  |  January 11, 2012
    The nation's first presidential primary isn't new terrain for activists.
  •   KENJI NAKAYAMA TAKES AN AGE-OLD CRAFT TO NEW PLACES  |  January 11, 2012
    This winter, the Butera School of Art in Back Bay commences its last-ever sign-making classes, teaching students how to hand-letter everything from yachts to mom-and-pop shops.

 See all articles by: CHRIS FARAONE

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed