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There is something a bit unsettling about heavy metal and rap being
mixed together… it's like all the bad in the musical world coming
together in one big, ugly clusterfuck. Outtasite, however inexplicably,
turns that giant horrific orgy into a thing of indelicate beauty and
grace. The songs on Careful What You Wish For… are filled
with crunchy rhythm guitars that neatly offset the classic rap beats.
The drums are clean and heavy, sounds that are instantly familiar
to anyone who has heard 80's/90's rap, obviously brought to the table
by Sir Mix-A-Lot, who produced and co-wrote much of the album.
The guitars are all seven-string low, distorted and heavy, although
cleanly recorded and ultra-tight, and lend the songs a real edge not
commonly found in far too much modern rap.
Where Outtasite really shines is in the lyric department. Rather
than going with the current trends in hip hop and talking about
his gangster friends and his bitches and his package, Outtasite
focuses more on societal ills… kind of. The lyrics have a weird
street poetry that denies the established norms and go for a more
abstract expressionism. The result of these forays into abstraction
are a more lethal hold on the listener, drawing the ear in ever
deeper, seeking the true meaning behind the surface words. This
is art.
Overall, Careful What You Wish For… sounds more like
a holdover from early Faith No More or Pop Will Eat Itself
more than it sounds like modern rap/hip hop. The songs stand on their
own nicely, without the need for self-bolstering ridiculousness as
is found in the current genre. Perhaps Outtasite can help bring the
hip hop sound back to something meaningful and listenable. Here's
to hope, suckas.
-L. Keane
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