With the recent release of the “25th Hour” video, Lawrence, Massachusetts native/Hollywood, Florida resident REKS scores another win for traditionalist/boom-bap/true school/whatever-the-fuck-you-want-to-call-it hip hop. DJ Premier’s expected-yet-exceptional steady head nodder of a track is dope, but is truly made special when paired with the MC’s fast-paced, aggressive vocals. For three minutes of madness, REKS laments the end of rap’s Golden Era (the exact time line of which probably depends on when you were born) and denounces it’s current state, while dipping in and out of a Big Pun-inspired rapid-fire delivery. “25th Hour” may contain content inappropriate for radio heads, new-school apologists, and those who are generally opposed to rappers rapping about rappers and rapping.
For those whose alley “25th Hour” is right up, I’d urge them to check out pretty much anything REKS has recorded since his Grey Hairs album. While that LP (my favorite of 2008) features similarly anti-modern-day-rap sentiments, it also features many verses of introspection, remorse, and redemption. Although boasting production from legends DJ Premier and Large Professor, the record’s true anchor was Statik Selektah, whose street-level backdrops set the proper canvas for REKS’ honest expressions.
Contrary to popular belief, Grey Hairs was not REKS’ debut. After gaining notoriety in Boston’s local hip-hop scene, he nationally made noise with 2001’s Along Came The Chosen on the long-defunct Landspeed Records. He independently dropped 2004’s Rekless before taking a four-year hiatus from releasing music.
Since Grey Hairs, REKS has released a steady stream of dope music, including a solid MP3-only collection of Grey Hairs leftovers, and free In Between The Lines compilations volumes 1 and 2. The two mixtapes are a bit overlong and feature a few less-than-stellar entries, but properly serve as warm ups for the upcoming Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme.
The new album’s track listing features less Statik Selektah, and more sticker-worthy production names like Pete Rock, Nottz, Sean C & LV, The Alchemist, Sha Money XL, Hi-Tek, and Lil’ Fame. Whether this results in a better album and/or more notoriety will be seen after March 8th. So far, he’s three for three, with the aforementioned “25th Hour”, angry “This Or That”, and autobiographical “Self-Titled”.
Check out the videos, download his mixtapes, and tell three of your best hip hop-loving friends to tell three of their best hip hop-loving friends, and so on, and son, and so on.
