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Murder 4 Hire | Escapi By: TED DROZDOWSKI9/18/2006 3:09:30 PM 
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You could argue that rap metal reached its apex with Body Count’s homonymous 1992 debut and its controversial “Cop Killer.” Rapper Ice-T and his pack of LA metallurgists were on fire then, blending humor, social commentary, and 10-ton riffs. Now they go down in flames, though any sparks have flickered out by the midpoint of this wallowing mess, right after the uninspired “In My Head,” which manages to make a first-person narrative by a psycho stalker dull. The few emotional peaks are in guitarist Ernie C’s solos, which stretch and squeal in the title tune and “The Passion of Christ.” But Ice-T’s vocals sound flat and unemotive, and that’s especially damaging to “Down in the Bayou,” a satire of redneck livin’ that needs a little joie de vivre if it’s to sink its fangs. Maybe it’s the weight of his losing his original Body Count mates to illness and drive-bys (drummer Beatmaster V to leukemia, guitarist D-Roc to lymphoma, bassist Mooseman to a South Central shooting). Maybe it’s the crushing irony of his day job: playing a cop on Law & Order: SVU. Or maybe deep down he’s just as tired of this genre as the rest of us.
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