For the vast majority the name will be foreign, but Rack Lo is by no means a newcomer to
the rap game. For the last couple of years his Lo Life crewmate Thirsten
Howl III has been shaking up a storm in the underground, with Rack Lo causing a bit of a stir of his
own with his first album Thou Shalt Not
Steal. Now with his sophomore release, Rack
Lauren, is aiming to establish more of a name for himself.
By the sounds of it he should be able to do just that, his lyrics are solid
throughout. If one were to have any misgivings about Rack Lauren it would only be with regard to the lack of consistency
in production; however, this is not to say that there aren’t tracks that hit
the mark, some most definitely do. The most commercially viable of these is the
melodic Love Iz Love, which arguably,
features the tightest lyrics on the album. Rarely does an emcee sound as
sincere as Rack Lo does here; but
then again the topic is a wife that he obviously loves. This should not lead
one to believe that Rack Lo is an
overly sentimental, mushy kind of guy, indeed he is not with numerous tracks
dedicated to everything from shoplifting to hustling.
Hustlah, is a song that grows upon
the listener more and more each time that it’s played, with most thanks due to
the intriguing bassline. Merk is a
humorous tale of escaping from sticky situations and features the best chorus
on the album. Da Consti2tion, one of
many politically motivated tracks will please, as well as Bad Habitz/Bad Lukk.
The main failings here come in the form of the lackluster trio, If It’s Money Outside, Places To Go People To See, and Clash Of Da Titans. Rack Lo still has some way to go with putting out a more polished
product, but overall this is a very solid effort. Even the skits are somewhat
entertaining.
