Two steps forward for every one step back is the basic pattern of this fine follow-up EP to
Edan's brilliant debut full-length. But the album back-pedals only in the respect that it repeats a pair of songs from
Primitive Plus, "Run That Shit" and the instant classic "Emcees Smoke Crack," so it is not a retreat at all, especially when you consider the great leap into the deep end of rap oddness that his previous effort represented. In fact,
Sprain Your Tape Deck is essentially a continuation of the
Edan aesthetic, part wild-style throwback and part future Dada, where old-school 808 drum loops mingle with the rapper's one-of-a-kind b-boy world view. The four new songs are all clean winners, the humor ratcheted up yet another notch. Only
Edan, the aluminum smoker, would have the shamelessness to plead with other MCs to hang out at the park and arcade with him, to buy each other ice cream and work on metaphors together ("Let's Be Friends"). And only
Edan could make the recitation of a menu or cookbook ("Beautiful Food") not merely funny, but dazzlingly so. The best comes last -- a late-night homage to spiritual mentor
Schoolly D that is a pitch-perfect trip back to 1986, when, if you think about it, hip-hop's future seemed much more unpredictable, full of possibilities, and enticing than it did circa 2002.