Hypnotic 2017
A buzz by any other name: hip hop mover and dubstep shakers establish survival of the fittest.
Dog Eats Rabbit
Always the one to talk the walk, DMX doesn’t mince words to simple beats, what with his very pseudonym referring to a drum machine, but, latching onto the New Yorker’s Dark Man X image, L.A. duo who are his partners in crime here prove their electronic groove is a perfect wrap for rapped diatribes. That’s why, for all its coast-to-coast tension, “Dog Eats Rabbit” voids the “vs” part of this collaboration and reveals the artists’ equal footing in an expletives-infested environment where defiance and alpha stance are the name of the game. From the promise which is “We Gonna Tear Shit Up” to the menace in “Meet Me Outside” with “The Fight” as an arresting, infectious centerpiece, there’s a sonic barrage to make the listener shuffle their feet and heavy riffs to appeal to a headbanger, and even though 21 tracks seem to outstay the record’s dubious welcome, it’s impossible not to be sucked in fully expecting to get spat out in the end.
The least expected turn of the tide is up on “Sin” whose folk motif and finger-popping percussion feel blissfully inebriating, and if such a reined-in skronk may amount to funky metal for “Motherfuckas Want” as Skyla Talon’s guitar runs amok, in “Let It Go” booming rhymes blend with delirious raves, while abating for the most part on “How We Roll” which propels dub element to the fore. Filling “WTF Bitch” with dynamic surges and driving “Fuck With” into trance-like skank, the players deliberately remove the overall layer of grime and reveal their sensual aspect, but “Something Going’ Tonight” has little nuance to its indifference, which can’t be said about anthemic “Don’t Get It Twisted” that’s pushing beats in all directions. With “Preach” proposing redemption, it’s a nice walk on the wild side towards chasing rabbit-shaped shadow and a dog bark: devour and savor the taste of the city.
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