:: Frank Castle Entertainment
Coupling an angry, low-pitched voice with a taste for beats that range from satanic to morose, Kid Selzy naturally stands out from other Australian emcees. Likewise "The Creep," his "album before the album," is certainly an important chapter in the country's horrorcore history.
Selzy's subject matter ranges from social ills to pure violence, approaching each with equal rage. One wonders, though, exactly why he's so mad at the world. Selzy provides an answer early in the album on "My Struggle." Contrary to many American rappers, Selzy summarizes his struggle as "becoming a fucking grown man" opposed to surviving gangbanging. Co-producing a surprisingly laid-back beat with DJ Guttertrash, Selzy describes the adverse effects that therapy had on his youth:
"Dudes can feel what I write, my lyrics are braille
Attack with vicious reprisal for the weak and frail
All my favorite musicians died or went soft
None of you cunts can burn me like asbestos
The truth is those doctors toyed with my youth
Tellin' me basically, that I had a fuckin' screw loose
Used to look at me strange, like I was a monsta
'Cause I didn't follow their creed, or believe their dogma"
However, the majority of "The Creep" is darker and a lot less sympathetic than "My Struggle." DJ Guttertrash—who produces or co-produces six of the album's ten tracks—very much lives up to his name. "The Reaper" has an absolutely deathly beat, and Selzy appropriately raps about, well…death. What's most interesting about the track is his constant referencing of mostly dead American celebrities, from Big L to River Phoenix. In fact, there's little besides Selzy's accent and rhetoric that would make you think he's not American.
Though you wouldn't expect so, there's a lot of implicit comedy within the record. Many of Selzy's punchlines are rewordings of common wordplay, but he does so in a pretty funny way ("FedEx couldn't even deliver my package no doubt about it"). He does however show flashes of originality on the aptly titled "Heavy Metal Homicide," dropping an obscure line for the hip hop enthusiasts: "When Selzy's spittin' I'm bringing that flow back // and I still got Lil' Fame like Fizzy Womack." All of the album's laughable moments aren't quite intentional, though. On nearly every track, Selzy berates "fuckin faggots….fuckin cunts!" It initially sounds like he's trying too hard and eventually borders on prejudice.
As he declared on "My Struggle," Kid Selzy is having trouble maturing, and it's evident within the album. While the production momentarily changes pace on "Grand Finale," essentially Europe's "The Final Countdown" with drums, the subject matter does not. Selzy's minimal messages are belabored by the time we reach "Dumb Bitch" and "Kuntz Remix." Possessing more pure skill than many other international MCs I've heard spit, Selzy would benefit from dropping the "Kid" (like a bad parent) and growing up a bit.
Music Vibes: 5.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 5.5 of 10
Originally posted: November 4, 2008
source: www.RapReviews.com