Coming out of that odd, outlandish slice of hip-hop that goes from Insane Clown Posse to Tech N9ne, earning respect has been an uphill battle for rapper Krizz Kaliko. Fortunately for the listener, the man couldn't care less. Genius may be a lofty title, and at 20 tracks long, it may look like an overwrought effort to prove it, but the album goes back to both the slaughterhouse and whorehouse often enough that you can't call it crossover, plus the abundance clearly comes from an overly active mind and becomes less of an issue with each return listen. The appearance of E-40 on the good-time number "Doe Doe" plus Krizz's wicked impression of the Bay Area Slang King during "Chip on My Shoulder" help connect him to the world of mainstream rap. The influence of urban radio continues when "Get Off" finds him getting his Usher on, although lines like "She said 'I love the way you touchin' me/It's twenty bucks but you get one for free'" are genuinely Kaliko, and when "She'll Do" rocks the orgy in Juggalo style, it becomes obvious that Genius has not forgotten its core audience. For them, the autobiographical "Bipolar" will be the revealing highlight that equals the previous album's "Vitiligo." Newcomers, on the other hand, will be instantly swayed by the inspirational "Getcha Life Right," which shows this freak has a foundation ("I push a bucket/Long as my mama and my wife right"). Following that number with the sick and twisted stalker anthem "Love You 2 Death" is just one of the hard left turns the album takes, and backing tracks come from numerous genres (rock, rap, reggae, etc.), with "The Chemical" being especially rangy thanks to its disco hit ("Knock on Wood") meets black rock (Living Colour) construction. This elaborate effort may feature too much suburban noise for some, but Kaliko is developing toward the album's title at a steady pace, and better yet, on his own terms.
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