Disc Review: Reks - "Straight, No Chaser" (Album Release Party at Church Boston Tonight (Weds)!!!)
By a
rough estimate, Reks is about 1000 tracks into his comeback mission,
which is going on about three years now. That includes the countless
songs he's slayed for other artists; from Boston acts like Blak
Madeen and Moe Pope, to El Da Sensei and MC-baller Ron Artest, the
Lawrence native and East Coast revivalist has bodied every
instrumental in his path, seemingly improving with every bar and
verse, if that's even possible.
With
longtime collaborator Statik Selektah handling the full beat buffet,
Reks gets right to business, bringing fans up to speed on the light
but autobiographic “Autographs,” then leaning hard into the more
reflective “Sit/Think/Drink.” Scratching an appropriate Common
rhyme into the hook, Statik winks at listeners, suggesting that few
cats who remain in the game still rock like this. From there, the
pair breaks away from familiar horn and piano loops, and really kicks
it up a notch.
Though
more than capable of holding down a project with no cameos, Reks
brings crew members along when appropriate. The eternally underrated
Ea$y Money pitches on the marching soul number “Power Lines,”
while Kali, JFK, and Termanology immortalize a minimalist posse cut
on “Such a Showoff.” Reks embraces the fierce competition, also
dutifully smashing back-and-forth with the comparably lyrical likes
of Slaine on the title track, and Action Bronson on “Riggs &
Murtaugh.”
On a
smorgasbord without a single stinker, the standout treasures here come
near the end, with the hard-thought “Lost In Translation” and
“Regrets,” both of which I nominate for cut of the year and then
some. Serious and playful, hopeful and reckless, the latter
especially exhibits precisely what makes Reks stand out from
virtually every other rapper out there. He's smarter than so-called
conscious acts, quicker than most tongue-twisters, and, when push
comes to shove, harder than the hard-rocks.
I've
often been taken to task for my extreme hyperbole – a tactic that I
use to steer rap fans away from radio rubbish, and toward artists who
have shit to say along with righteous rhythms to dance on. But on the
several occasions when I've deified Reks, heads either agree with me
wholesale, or go silent, which isn't what rap fans generally do. I'll
take that as confirmation of what I've said for years – that when
Reks is activated, there's absolutely no one better.