Rating: NNN
Halifax’s Wordburglar states early on in his second LP that hiphop sans wordplay sucks. But even by this point that’s been well established. In Wordburglar’s world, self-referential punchlines connect with wit-soaked puns intersect with metaphorical double-entendres and collide head-on with left-field braggadocious non sequiturs. As with the concentration of slapstick gags in Zucker Brothers movies, not every joke works, but there are so many, something’s bound to hit you (such as “I’ve got more lines than cokeheads playing Tetris”). That said, track after track about how clever you are can exhaust like the pipe sticking out of your car (that one’s mine). So slight diversions like Let’s Get Romantical or Pigeon John’s cameo provide very necessary relief. Wordburglar releases Burglaritis Friday (July 21) at the Boat.
