Sound Advice: CD Reviews - Buck 65 (Talkin' Honky Blues)

CD Review:
If you have ever been to a club playing hip hop and dance beats, you will notice the b-boys kicking up a storm. Whether their black or white, they show off to the crowd and impress the audience. Sometimes they will leave space for the more casual dancer as not everyone has the moves of say, Crazy Legs or the rest of the Rocksteady Crew.

Then, out of nowhere comes the guy, the one that has had too many beers and to little sense. He hits the dance floor and starts breakin' like a madman. The beers tell him he can take on everyone but in reality he can't hold a candle to the talent on display. You suppress the urge to laugh because in a way you are secretly impressed by his courage (you are, after all, standing cowardly against the wall). Then it happens, the guy has his body in just the right position, the music hits just the right beat, and bam, doesn't the guy pop off a move worthy of his place on the floor: even if only for a few seconds.

Buck 65, with Talkin' Honky Blues, shows us he's that enthusiastic guy. If you were to look for his shining moment on the dance floor, it would come in the song "Wicked and Weird." But I am being a bit harsh on the man, he has been in the hip hop scene in Nova Scotia for most of his life, and I actually have no idea whether he can break. But with what he represents on this CD, he shows he has great difficulty rapping. His lyrics are great poetry, and that is what they are, poetry. But when translated from the page to a rap vocal, he stumbles like Perdita Felicien did in Athens circa 2004.

Having said that, Tom Waits, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan can't sing and they have millions of fans. Buck 65 has the words and a great musical aesthetic, so who cares if he stumbles over lines like, "Been thinking about brushing up on my French," from the aforementioned song "Wicked and Weird." He deserves the attention he is getting because, like fellow Canadian K-os, he is expanding the definition of hip hop. On this release he brings a gritty country feel to the genre which no one else is doing with such aplomb.

Scott D. Brown