Hip-hop records live and die by their MCs. A DJ can cut as crazy as hewants and a producer can mine the weirdest record bins this side of themoon but if the MC isn't solid, the record will fall flat.Unfortunately, that's what happens for this ambitious work fromRadioinactive and Antimc. While the music is quirky, unpredictable andsufficiently groovy, the vocals just do not work for me. This is moreof that self-described 'art rap' that mixes stiff rhymes and heady freeverse with off-beat production and live instrumentation, and while someof it is fun, this just isn't. Fans of similar Mush artists will likelyenjoy Radioinactive's flow, but the too-direct, too-choppy,too-preachy, too-simple rhymes often come off as amateurish andill-performed. Spitting out words over a beat is an art, and one that'sa lot harder to do well than most people seem to think. While some ofRadioinactive's contemporaries have an off-kilter delivery that worksbecause it's strange and fresh, most of Free Kamalreminds me of one of those files you might find online of a kid rappinginto a webcam. If Mush had gone the Cex/Dr. Octagon/Cannibal Ox routeof releasing an instrumental and vocal copy of Free Kamal, I'm sure I'd pop it in more often, but as it stands, the record has a fatal flaw that I just can't get past to enjoy.Read More
