By Cheryl Hann, Staff contributor
Grade: A-
Treat of the Day is the third release from Halifax’s finest throw-back MC, Ghettosocks. Filled to the brim with well-chosen samples, both from hip-hop classics and your favourite childhood movies, “The Grand Wizard’s” new full-length album is a loving marriage between nostalgia and skill. And it comes with a Teen Beat-pin-up-sized poster of a hamburger.
Treat of the Day opens with “Rappin’ For Fun”, which despite its title, is strangely threatening. MCs who lack skills should probably “stop yappin’”, before they hear the sound of their “lungs collapsing”, at Socks’ hand.
The album really gets going on the second track, “Onlyindamornin’”, a Bubb Rubb and Lil Sis inspired jam that features Socks’ clever, fast-paced rhymes over a dynamite beat from Dexter Doolittle.
Since his debut on the local hip-hop scene, Ghettosocks has been known for his clever one-liners, and charming sense of humor. These skills have not diminished. With gems such as “Hit the hood in Atlanta with your cameras out? That’ll get you Lynyrd Skynyrd – you know – band from the south”, the rhymes on Treat of the Day are some of Socks’ most clever.
But Treat of the Day, like Ghettosocks’ previous releases Get Some Friends, and I Can Make Your Dog Famous, isn’t all about Socks himself. The album is packed with cameos from local, national and international MCs who take turns punishing your ears with vicious verbal assaults. For examples of these top-notch collaborative efforts check out “Don’t Turn Around” featuring North Carolina’s Edgar Allen Floe, or the soul-soaked “Pink Lemonade” featuring Halifax’s own Apt.
Even if you never hear the album, be sure to check out Socks’ live show. It seethes energy.
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