Album Review: El-P- Cancer For Cure

El-P is a hero to me. There I said it. I am not too cool to display some fan boy traits from time to time. But that puts me in an odd place to write a fair, unbiased review of this album. As a producer, I have dissected, analyzed and blatantly stolen from the man. As a fledgling beat maker, I probably smoked more blunts and spent more time listening to the Little Johnny From The Hospital album in 1999 than any other album. I still regard his beats on Cannibal Ox's Cold Vein and his Fantastic Damage album as some of the most experimental and unique that has or ever will be made in the genre. With all that hoopla, his I'll Sleep When You're Dead album did not disappoint one bit. El developed an immersive world on that album; a world full of paranoia, conspiracy, technology and menace. It's reasonable to say at some point an artist will plateau once creating a landmark. And I, for one, definitely feel that El hit that plateau with ISWYD and has been sliding downhill. His recently released instrumental "Megamixxx" albums failed to hold my interest like his earlier stuff and I am going to dare to say the same for Cancer For Cure.

There are some songs that directly pick up where I'll Sleep When You're Dead left off (especially the song I posted here). Songs like Tougher Colder Killer and Works Everytime expand both sonically and lyrically on the sci-fi mythology that he created in the previous album. This I like. But then there is another grouping of songs on this album that sound like El was bored recording one night and we are left with his musical doodles (Sign Here for example). There are other songs that make an attempt at grandness but I honestly just don't like. I mean For My Upstairs Neighbor just seems a little out of place on a potential cinematic opus. The implied violence on this song sounds like El's dissatisfaction with his living situation, which is something you may wanna save for your landlord and not your highly anticipated album.

I will say that I want to listen to this album more thoroughly to decipher what El is saying. But why? At a glance, his lyrics convey deep depression. Assuredly, El has dabbled with psychedelics for some time, which probably helped his genius creations in the past. But, I will say from personal experience, if you dwell in the ultra colorful world of psychedelics too long, everything else will begin to look gray. And this album is bleak. Shit, there is even a song that sounds like a suicide note. Now I'm not opposed to El going Goth rap. That may be an interesting direction. But on the song $Vic/FTL (me and you), his immensely dark lyrics are counteracted by cartoonish atari-like synth sounds. If he is gonna dwell in the dark I would prefer that he would have gotten even darker with the beats.  I mean this is a visionary musician in my mind. I want to hear him really test himself musically because I feel like I have heard a lot of this stuff from him before. I mean is that a Prodigy (think Firestarter not Mobb Deep) beat in the opening? Seriously, music has come a long way since then homeboy. That isn't impressing anyone. On his next release, rather than work with more annoying rappers (ie Danny Brown, Killer Mike- and no I don't give a fuck about Killer Mike's album either) I would prefer him to work with some true electronic acts so he can learn to coax more darkness out of his samplers, boxes and synths.

I know I am biased, I was expecting another macabre post apocalyptic soundtrack but I feel that this album wallows in depression and personal epithets and the music just doesn't resonate with me. It's probably just me. I admit that I am no longer the blunt smoking backpacker I was as a youngster and maybe this type of thing has lost it's appeal. Although I doubt that, because I will gladly bang his other albums any day of the week (shit even Collecting the Kid). And partly because of that I refuse to give El a failing grade. Hopefully he will scream Phoneix on his next album and arise from the ashes of his recent missteps.  I just hope there is some sort of creative arc where either El-P transcends the darkness or finds a way to channel his black energy more powerfully.

$6.5 of $10 because honestly since I like less than half of it, I can't really say it's a priority buy.