Consumer Guide: April, 2024

A blatant genius given to unassuming meditations; one of rap's most eloquent; a bootleg (gone legit) documenting a definitive band becoming such; and musical intelligence vs. the world falling apart.

BKtherula: LVL5 P2 (Warner) Do I repeat myself?/Very well then, I repeat myself/I am cute, I purvey pulchritude (“Tatti,” “Woman”) **

Buck 65, Doseone, Jel: North American Adonis (Handsmade) Initially brainstormed by injury-plagued Nova Scotian Yankee signee turned quick-lipped Anglophone rapper Richard Terfry a/k/a Buck 65 and Idaho-born Anticon cofounder Adam Drucker a/k/a Doseone, a version of this album was put aside by both principals circa 1998 as they focused on CBC talk radio and US alt-rap respectively. But now they’ve revived it decades later with beats that had to be reconceived because the originals got lost and lyrics that needed light refurbishing, like when Kendrick Lamar goes Anticon. For a while I winced at the congenial introductory “North America is where the United States of America is.” Now I smile every time I hear it. Not just white but Canadian for Pete’s sake, Buck 65’s two-part hip-hop career makes him one of the most eloquent rappers ever. Of course hip-hop is quintessentially African-American, actively resisting the racism that remains such a poison in the land of the not so damn free. But these two prove it’s also so adaptable it can make a fella hope if not always believe that we’ll get on the other side before we all go down in infamy or up in smoke. A