Customer Reviews

Fear Of A Black Tangent

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are those who insist that "real rap" is dead, that it was killed by R&B and Gansgsta and Crunk. They are the ones who stopped listening.

Busdriver gives hip-hop a new direction with rapid-fire, esoteric lyrics with a sophistication and intellectualism that rises above the collegiate Chubb Rock; like Professor Griff without the agenda.

"Unemployed Black Astronaut" is the showcase track here, a catchy tune with a sing-along chorus that deep down unloads double cynical barrels on mainstream hip-hop, major labels, even racial and urban-cultural divisions. He continues his lament against both mainstream music and cultured music critics with "Reheated Pop Sensation", a song-length prostration parody.

Even Busdriver's own adoptive subgenre of music is fair game for the rap critic of rap, with "Avantcore" glibly mocking the contrarians of underground/alternative hip-hop. The album ends with remixes of three of the album's showcase tracks.

No, rap is not dead, it never died, you just fell off. Time to get back on the bus.

this is the first amazon review i've ever took the time to write. probably the last, too... but when i saw that this album had only one review so far i couldn't believe it.

busdriver is one of the most innovative and interesting performers in contemporary music ... this album is simply briliant, smart, hillarious. and the beats are tremendous too ...

if you like the most invoative stuff in hip-hop: aceyalone, lyrics born, brother ali, mike ladd, saul williams, etc., you need to feature busdriver too...

buy this record

People base reviews on personal taste. I have no beef with that, or someone who gives this album a two of three. But as you can probably tell, other people do like this album. Emcees diss their fans all the times, have you ever been to a show? And if an emcee never criticizes themselves, then how do we know their real? Every emcee should have an album like this. Considering it's Easter its very odd I'm listening to this album. I think Busdriver had a plan with this one. Maybe rip himself down with some sort of emo-suicide album, and then come again with another Temporary Forever-album. But the most important thing is that he switched up his style. He didn't want to be fast and happy Busdriver anymore. He wanted to be fast and angry Busdriver. Sometimes on this album I think he should just stay pissed (Unemployed Black Astronaut) and sometimes I wish he would just go back to Temporary Forever. Overall this album is not as good as Temp. Forever, but I like this better than all his Temp. Forever wannabe albums. If you really like Busdriver but think his writing is monotonous, buy this album.

PS also here's a tip for a reviewer. Express your opinions without completely trashing fans of the artist and the genre. I mean seriously if you bought the CD you were obviously a fan of the guy at one point in time, so are you a clone pseudo-intellectual like the rest of us. Oh, and if you've ever listened to Temporary Forever, he explains the name.

Busdriver is from the Project Blowed LA crew. However, this album wasn't released on that label. The title of this cd is obviously a play-on-words from Public Enemy's renown "Fear Of A Black Planet." This title should give you some kind of idea of the unique and intriguing personality that Busdriver possesses. This is the first cd I bought from him, although I've heard him with Haiku D'Etat on their last cd.

It took about three full listens to completely get into this cd. To say Busdriver is unconventional is an understatement. There's just nobody out there like him. From the different flows and voices he fiddles with, to the different characters he plays, no one is similar to Busdriver. He's quite funny at times, and sometimes even insightful, but the best way to describe him is witty. Wit is definitely his game. As "far out" as these songs are, there were still a couple that were to "out there" for me ("Wormholes," "Low Flying Winged Books"). The rest of it is classic Busdriver though.

Haiku D'Etat members Abstract Rude and Mikah 9 enhance the experience by appearing on different songs on this cd, and other Project Blowdians Ellay Khule and 2mex show up too. The four of them are involved, separately, in "Map Your Psyche" and "Sphinx's Coonery," obviously standouts. Other good songs I remember were "Unemployed Black Astronaut," and "Lefty's Lament," but to only focus on these songs is a disservice to the rest of the album. The three remixes are very good, and the intro was actually worthwhile.

I keep hearing that "Temporary Forever" was a better album, but I sure like this one though. However, I wouldn't say it's for everybody. If you REALLY like Hiphop, especially the real sh#% that's experimental and devoid of gimmicks: give this one a chance. You may just like it!

This is a great album, it's got a little something for everybody, ranging from pure heat to pop tunes to abstract hip hop.

This album features production by Paris Zax, Thavius Beck, Daedelus, & one track by Omid. Remixes by Invisibl Skratch Piklz DJ D-Styles, Prefuse 73, and Nobody. Cameos by fellow Project Blowedians Abstract Rude, Rifleman Ellay Khule, Mikah 9 (Freestyle Fellowship), and 2mex.

i've been following the underground rap scene for a long time, particularly project blowed and spinoffs. i've also been a fan of busdriver since his CVE days. he's always been original, witty, surreal, intelligent, and pretty damn FAST. i recently bought the import 'cosmic cleavage' which was brilliant. then i bought this album.

wow. busdriver is not a happy man, judging from his lyrics. he ranks on the music industry, the state of indie rap, rap fans(particularly the granola backpacker set he seems to attract), and most of all, himself. i gave this album three stars because of its beats, but honestly this is one of those un-ratable albums. this is an experiment in self-destruction, a cry for help from a man that expects to drown anyways. this is deconstructing everything you or your listening audience ever thought about hiphop. this is busdriver reaching the cul-de-sac of self-referentialism. it's depressing. it's like he gained so much attention but it didn't work out, and now he finds himself stuck in a genre of music that he doesn't understand anymore. that said, i don't know the man personally, so i can't say this is fact, but it is definitely what he portray's on this disc. i can't say it is good or bad. it's an artist seeing his own reflection and having serious doubts to its own validity.

buy it to support the artist, but personally i haven't found it a pleasant listen lyrically. good beats though. mush records and affilliates usually come through on that end. peace.

Rap sucks, but Busdriver proves that it does not have to. He mixes intelligent lyrics, with rapid-fire delivery, and catchy beats. I highly recommend this and all of his albums. I personally think that this is his best album to date, but everything he does is platinum to me, but 99.999999999% of hip-hop audiences do not know that and they are missing out. They can have their Eminems, 50 Cents, T-Pains, and other crap while true hip-hop fans listen to what hip-hop should be - Busdriver, Aesop Rock, and the other unknowns that are incredibly talented. Just buy this c.d.

I'm no stranger to so-called 'alternative' hip hop, having a healthy lot of the better of the crop already in my collection. But this album needs to be thrown in the bargain bin, it's bloody horrible! It's bound to get good reviews, as it's the "almighty" unmesswittable Busdriver, AKA artist with the worst name ever, AKA God to clones (sorry, fans) who fancy themselves as pseudo-intellectuals. After all, they are so *different* aren't they? Those of us who dared to cop that Lil' Wayne CD "just don't understand".

As for the album, it's weird. Weird can be good, or it can be godawful. No, clones, I'm not "missing the point" - there IS NO point. After 5 painful listens (I TRIED to like it), I can barely remember one single line from this backpacker holy grail. 'Unemployed Black Astronaught' (or whatever the hell it's called) is the only track that is even halfway memorable, with a catchy line or two. That is ALL folks. The production is alright, if someone released the instrumentals I might just force myself to sit and chill to it. Until that day, the normally decent Big Dada remains to be a Big Joke, in my opinion.