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The Gatman Is Back!Better known as one half of the highly controversial gangsta rap duo Gatman & Robbin’ of the late 90s, anyone would’ve been forgiven for assuming Gatman had simply fallen off the face of the west coast after his other half flew the roost to form the hugely successful flute-driven trance act “Johan and the Beast”. In fact, in the five years since the split not a single sighting has been made and I looked proper hard for time. Checked everywhere. But what’s become of our hero after his time of in the wilderness?
From du-rags to bitches.
With the opening line “Its glock o’clock n*gga, father grime’s at yo’ door” its immediately clear the Ghostman has not lost his passion for homicide. But there’s something else, something more. Something subtly evident yet truthfully deceptive lying just under the surface. And then it hits me - there’s multiple tracks. And each of them shows a different side to this human polyhedra.
Lock, stocks, and two smoking commodities.
Lock, stocks, and two smoking commodities.
His voice has mellowed, his disses more cheery and each word is shrieked with regal authority. This new found maturity is no more apparent than on the post-crunk masterpiece “Dat NASDAQ Killa”; a track that hurtles him along at 50 bpm while he highlights the great stability that can be enjoyed by trading in commodities such as gold and platinum, and in doing so he steps into unchartered territory; actual content, like proper lifey things. While his debut was constrained to casual remarks of arbitrary sums, he now lists the values of recent purchases; where he used to merely mention that bitches were amongst his presence, he now goes on to list a dazzling array of physical attributes.
Breadth of fresh heir.
And just in case some of you hip hop purists were unconvinced with all this lyrical wizardry and the bemusing amounts of synapsical jizz spurting forth from this LP, Gat breaks it down and doffs his proverbial cap to the sole creator of modern day hip hop, King Kan Ye, in the roof raising classic “hmmm...yeh yep yeah yes yeah yep yep” in which he ditches the full sentences and actual words in the name of booty and cunningly dips the tone of his voice at the end of each sentence...tick, tick BOOM! This one has to be heard to believed...guaranteed to make you consider leaving your Mac-11 at home!
Can you step to this?
Yeah, OK, so he might be lyrical dynamite and everything yeah but where’s the realness? Where are the studio deaths we witnessed in his 19 famous ‘pop track’ skits that peppered his previous album? Unfortunately, to the detriment of the art form, that idea was ditched since being placed under 24 hr surveillance as part of a bail condition. But instead there are 3 silent tracks, each roughly 5 minutes long, entitled “Cut it Up”, “Cook it Up”, and “Smoke it Up” designed so the album can be worked around the music user’s crack habit in the biggest “f*ck you” to modern society since the invention of the platinum trouser press. The album artwork even folds out into a easy-to-read, step-by-step, pop-up “Crack-Pack” that provides excessively hyphenated tips to get you cooking up a storm in no time!
Verdict: 1/1 (to the nearest digit)
Bob Crunkhouse
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