Bekay – Hunger Pains

From Biggie and Jay-Z to Mash Out Posse and Masta Ace, Brooklyn deserves its accolades for the number of legendary emcees who come from its streets. Few recognize the borough’s significance in the game better than underground luminary and DXnext artist Bekay. His latest album Hunger Pains is a fitting tribute to Brooklyn’s lasting legacy. At his best, Bekay spits like it’s 1994, with a barrage of verbs and metaphors that body the beat and the ear.  Yet despite his exceptional lyrical abilities, Hunger Pains also shows that Bekay‘s abilities are growing with his borough’s population.

Hunger Pains is the work of a true student of Hip Hop, and Bekay lets his love of the music be known in his devotion to lyricism. His rhymes mediate vivid imagery and hard-body battle rap ethics. On the song “Bloodsport,” Bekay goes bar for bar, barking lines like “I’ll leave you locked in the basement / Man on fire, cut your fingers off and sew them back in opposite places.” He’s lyrically quick to grab a track by the throat and squeeze, making harder cuts like “Realest That Run It” even more raucous. Yet Bekay doesn’t simply stay in kill mode. On many of the album’s finest cuts, Bekay raps in a much more subdued manner. On the Ace-assisted single “Brooklyn Bridge,” Bekay sounds less volatile, saying, “Fiends on the floor look for crack until their knees break / Or Puff could be a dick and make you walk here for a piece of cheesecake.” Despite his triumphs, Bekay isn’t perfect. A number of his lines simply don’t hit, and when compounded with his nasal voice and overly emphasized delivery, the emcee can veer into cliche online battle rapper territory.

Luckily, the majority of Hunger Pains finds Bekay at his best. Much of the album revolves around his struggles, making the album a very personal and inspiring story. Whether it’s his battles with the industry (“Rapstar (Hunger)”), drugs (“Young”) and even the hustle of daily life (“Skemers” with Wordsworth), Bekay keeps the album contained within his own personal perspective. He also looks to his Bucktown environment for inspiration, from its music (“I Am,” with DJ Revolution) to its bridge (“Brooklyn Bridge”). The album’s most unique concept, however, is the track “Pipe Dreams,” featuring Bekay as an up-and-coming emcee) and R.A. the Rugged Man as a shiesty label exec. The two tear it up as they duke it out over label politics and Eminem comparisons. The song has an added level of irony given how “friendly” Bekay and Crustified Dibbs are with record labels, making it one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album.

Yet the album starts to lose steam towards the end. Tracks like “Pops” and “Visions,” although highly personal and passionately delivered, aren’t inviting the audience to the party. In addition, Bekay’s lyrical flaws become painfully present on some of the less-than-stellar battle tracks. Cuts like the “Raw,” featuring two of Joe Budden’s ’09 opponents, Inspectah Deck and Saigon, and the Heltah Skeltah featured “Crazy,” suffer from a lack of energy and originality. Neither song is bad, partly because of the assistance from Deck, Saigiddy and the ubiquitous Sean P, but neither has the gravitas that make them absolute bangers.

Hunger Pains’ production proves to be one of the best elements of the album. All of the usual suspects are present: the Alchemist (“I Am”), Marco Polo (“Pipe Dreams”), DJ Babu (“Brooklyn Bridge”). Holding up the bulk of the production is Shuko, who laces the album with some of its finest beats on cuts like “Bloodsport,” “Young” and “Skemers.” Similarly, Hollywood producer J.R. Rotem (“Visions”) and Street Orchestra (“The Raw”) slow it done to similar success. A few beats simply don’t hold up, like Bean One’s bland “Pops” and Alkota and Unknown’s basic “Rapstar (Hunger Pains),” yet such transgressions are few and far between.

Ultimately, Bekay has no trouble proving he’s got the talent, but succumbs to predictability sometimes. Still, Bekay is primed to be an emcee worthy of Brooklyn’s upper echelon of emcees. It may be an ongoing journey to join their ranks, but if Hunger Pains is any indication, we can surely expect to hear the name Bekay in the future.