Slaine :: The King of Everything Else
Suburban Noize Records
Author: Steve 'Flash' Juon

It's probably a good coincidence that Slaine moonlights as an actor given that his life sounds like a movie. He went from the gutter to the penthouse in a meteoric ascent - from nearly overdosing on cocaine to feature roles in films with Ray Liotta. Along the way he's been a featured member of two acclaimed rap supergroups: Special Teamz and La Coka Nostra. It's fair to say most aspiring rappers would give their left nut/tit to have done any of those things, and if the artist born George Carroll had said "That's good enough, I'm done here" and hung up his headphones for Hollywood few people would have blamed him.

Slaine's not a quitter though. "The King of Everything Else" is his fourth major label solo album, a continuation of his long-standing relationship with Suburban Noize Records, and even though he's hinted in interviews that he's sick of the music industry he's clearly not sick of the SubNoize fam. Why else drop as many albums as you have appearances in motion pictures? There's no doubt he could do one or the other successfully yet here he is doing both. The work ethic is not in question nor is the skillset. Some emcees seem to get lost in the Hollywood shuffle, losing a bit of their menacing edge on the mic, but Slaine still sounds like the same gruff voiced Boston rapper he's always been. "The Years" is an overview of his life to this point - recounting "washing dishes, minimum wage" until he finally got the break he was waiting for to "make it with this pen and the page."

The beat is as thick as the phlegm in his throat, heavy on the kick drum and snare, plenty of bass oomph East coast grit. It will remind you of a Diamond D or Statik Selektah track, and although I don't have production credits on this pre-release copy, it's possible it was the latter. The press kit mentions Louis Bell, Statik Selektah and DJ Lethal as providing instrumentals. Whoever did the understated head nodder "Hip Hop Dummy" featuring Apathy and Bishop Lamont feel free to stand up and take credit now.

"Ma, mami, what the f#^! you want me to call you?
F$$% it, I won't call you at all
I hate the sound of the phone ringing
That's my social anxiety disorder
I got my own thing and I guess my stress is just impeding my progress
I saw your little cousin smoke weed with her
Blew a f#%@n seed in her prom dress
I got a complex, I'm sort of complex
On more drugs than post-traumatic stress Vietnam vets
But let's not take this out of context
I'm addicted to pussy so bad that I ain't got a conscience..."

You might think someone who has achieved the amount of success of Slaine would be carefree, perhaps even have an upbeat outlook, but Carroll's deep depths of inner pain enable him to tap a main vein and sound as raw and angry as the beats that back him up. Whether he's venting about the "Dopehead" addicts selling anything they can steal, or recounting the times in his life when he "Pissed It All Away," he admits to being unable to reconcile his own inner demons: "I should watch what I say cause it's reachin the kids/but I'm drunk all the time and I speak what I live."

Slaine's not giving up though - "Children of the Revolution" featuring Ill Bill sounds like an Immortal Technique and CF track musically, mixed with reminiscing over the generation of hip-hop they were born into: "listening to breakbeats, Mr. Magic and Marley Marl." Though Slaine is quick to point out he doesn't believe his own hype, he doesn't really need to since the music can speak for itself without effusive praise. Your line in the sand will be his vocals - he's the Boston bred version of Vinnie Paz, who appropriately enough has a cameo on the album. If you don't like that gritty, guttural, stuck to the back of your throat hip-hop then Slaine is not your man. He sounds like he gargles with Crown Royal. That's alright by me though - as the late great ODB famously said "ooh baby I like it raw."

Music Vibes: 7.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 7.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7.5 of 10

Originally posted: September 9, 2014
source: www.RapReviews.com