Steve 'Flash' JuonThis is a rap duo forged in friendship. Bizarre (D12) and King Gordy (Fat Killahz) are Detroit rappers who are both capable on their own but used to being featured as part of larger ensembles. After making guest appearances on each other’s solo projects, the two branded themselves The Davidians and began shopping around their own group album. After over a decade of setbacks the duo finally found a partner in Malik Ninja Entertainment, and took that opportunity to rebrand themselves as the “Last American Rock Stars” — L.A.R.S. for short. Honestly it’s more memorable and less likely to get them a lawsuit from miffed Branch Davidians who think it’s an attempt to hijack their infamy for profit.
Dewitt Moore (a/k/a Wit or Dat Nigga Witt) does his best to match the manic energy Bizarre and Gordy sought to create on “Lit.” The video is not for the timid. Gordy gets shot by a fan he bashed with a beer bottle and winds up in an ambulance. Bizarre gets stomped out by a group of women he was spying on. People pull needles through their cheeks. There are more masks than a Wyatt Sicks match. I swear at one point I saw an audience member put a pistol to his own dome. As disturbing as the imagery could be to some viewers, there’s also something positive to it — their audience features all ages, races and genders partying together. They are united in their love of debauchery and depravity.
“Start a War” was an unexpected surprise. Heizenburr proves himself capable of crafting a dark musical landscape and Bizarre summons “these weirdos behind me” to help — Trizz, G-Mo Skee and TWISTA. I was listening in the background for a bit while I was doing some research on the album and as soon as I heard the rapid-fire Chicagoan blasting the track my head whipped around. It was fitting that they let him get the last verse on the song because there’s absolutely no way anybody else on it could top his performance. Even though these “Rock Stars” have a lot of sex, drugs, rock & roll energy, some songs like “I Believe I Can Fly” go deeper to talk about personal shit.
Hearing Bizarre talk about having asthma so serious that it required him to be hospitalized as a child is eerily familiar. It never put me in the ER, but I did have to carry an emergency inhaler with me until my teens, at which point (and I’ve never understood why) the symptoms seemed to vanish. I actually started participating in sports like track and basketball, and while I was never any good at either, it was refreshing to be able to RUN HARD without suddenly gasping for breath and feeling like I could die. It also makes me wonder why Bizarre doesn’t take his own health more seriously. I’m far from saying he needs to lose weight for cosmetic reasons (fuck the fake music industry beauty pageant bullshit) but as someone who used to need an inhaler himself I’m constantly fighting my own indolent tendencies. The older I get the less I eat and the more I exercise. I sometimes fear for Bizarre the opposite is true.
I was a little confused by seeing the name Del in the production credits for tracks like “Cocaine In Miami,” but thankfully Discogs cleared up that this is not the Funky Homosapien (even though he’s certainly a capable producer as well as legendary emcee). While some of Bizarre’s solo rap albums have led to a regrettable level of “I have to top the depraved shit I said before” in his performances, he’s well met by King Gordy here and it doesn’t feel like he needs to prove shit to anybody. The only time it’s in danger of going off the rails is the song “Suicide” when Bizarre admits “I need help, I need therapy” then proceeds to brag about doing everything other than getting it. Thanks to FoulMouth’s angelic track you can recognize it as shock value entertainment and not a plea for intervention.
“Last American Rock Stars” may have also been Bizarre’s last chance at holding onto stardom after the near career suicide of his last solo album eight years earlier. It’s fair to say it redeemed him to a degree because he’s continued to release solo albums, collaborations and mixtapes to the present day. It’s also fair to say that neither rapper achieved their rock star dreams with this one since there’s been no follow up album. I don’t perceive that Gordy and Bizarre had a falling out, I’ve certainly never read any interviews where they talked shit about each other, I think they simply realized they could only get so far on an independent label run by Twiztid. They also released this album at a time when rap had gone a full 180 in a different direction toward trap and emo, and commercially it just didn’t fit in. Wrong place, wrong time. It’s a fun well produced album that just didn’t hit it big. (Sh)it happens.