Steve 'Flash' JuonTo discuss “The Black Season” we must first reveal the increasingly smaller circles of interest this album exists within. Lex “The Hex” Master is a rapper from Queens who signed to Malik Ninja Entertainment in the 2010’s. Malik Ninja is a label started by Twiztid when they decided they no longer wanted to be under the thumb of Psychopathic Records after a 15 year run with Insane Clown Posse’s imprint. I think you’re starting to see the uphill struggle “The Black Season” faced, but if it’s not clear let me lay it all on the line for you. To know about Lex “The Hex” Master you had to be an ICP fan who also loved all the acts they signed, then subsequently be loyal enough to those acts to follow them if they left the label, THEN be loyal enough to support any acts THEY signed to a deal. Lex might have been better off striking out on his own, but he still plays the cards he was dealt and encourages “Ninjas” to “get wild in this motherfucker” like he was at a Gathering.
In fairness Twiztid never completely distanced themselves from the Psychopathic Records fan base. They continued to perform at the Gathering for years after leaving the label and starting their own, so one can assume they still felt the Juggalo nation was strongly behind them and their endeavors. I’d even grant you that the audience that goes to Astronomicon and to the Gathering is probably the same people with a 90-100% rate of crossover between the two. I also think Lex fits in nicely no matter which one he’d perform at. “I don’t need your approval/my shit is ‘sposed to be wild” raps Lex on “Bomb On Em,” perfectly capturing the rebellious energy to match his labelmates counter-cultural style.
It’s hard to not feel a little odd at times during “The Black Season” though. Lex drops the word “nigga” enough for you to be sure that he’s from Queens, even though his cover art and stage persona involve a whole lot of ICP style facepaint. I’ve seen one interview where he was only wearing a mask over his mouth and no facepaint, so if he wants to drop the N word he’s certainly got more right to it than a majority of the Psychopathic or Malik Ninja roster. The thing that makes this strange isn’t that a black rapper is a Juggalo — it’s that he sounds like he’s from a Gravediggaz record about two decades before this came out. “The Outside” would be a perfect record for the Ryzarector to drop bars on.
The production is the biggest drawback here. Lex is handed various crunchy hard rock backdrops and makes the most of them with his energy and macabre lyrics, but they all morph together into a pattern that repeats with too little variance. It’s the kind of music that will get you pumped up for a little bit but like an energy drink you crash hard once the caffeine wears off, leaving you with a full bladder and a headache. Well… sans the headache at least. “The Black Season” doesn’t hurt my ears, but it also doesn’t leave me wanting more.