Hard to admit sometimes but rap fans often are a conservative bunch. For all the ranting and raving against commercialized hip-hop, they don’t want an artist to rock the boat too hard and there are limits to how hardcore things should get. That pretty much sums up why Necro is condemned to cult status, which in the natural order of things goes with the territory when your whole steez is built around exploitation. But to pigeonhole Ron Braunstein as a one trick pony doesn’t do the man and his undeniable talent, both in the booth and behind the boards, justice. The initiated already know that the self-proclaimed Sexorcist is part of a lineage of rugged East Coast emcees like Kool G Rap, Tragedy Khadafi, Akinyele and Mobb Deep.
Enter the Murder Murder Kill Kill Double EP, somewhat of a stop-gap release and at the same time a defiant fuck you to all the critics that have labeled him one-dimensional his entire career. First thing you notice is the amazing album artwork, a nod to seventies horror flicks with a zombie like creature rocking a necklace made out of human heads, holding a bloody butcher knife in one hand and another decapitated head in the other.
The actual album is made up out of five sides: Thug Shit, Death Rap, Jewish Gangsters, Tabloid/Comedy/Random and The Sexorcist. Necro murder murder kill kills the 15 songs contained within, no matter what the subject matter is. The double EP offers a couple of sneak previews of upcoming collaborations. First with the legendary Kool G Rap, ‘The System’, and then Mr. Hyde, the track ‘GORE!’ which builds anticipation for their Gruesome Twosome project as they trade sadistic verses on the cut.
The production is vintage Necro, gritty basslines and eerie piano loops pop up throughout the proceedings. On the Jewish Gangsters side, perhaps the best part of the album, he revisits the Black Helicopters sound with great success. The only downside is that these songs, like most of the tracks on the album are too damn short considering how dope they are. ‘Tough Jew’ and ‘Rabbi Holding Guns’ are both one verse and that’s it. Even the aforementioned ‘The System’ doesn’t go beyond two verses. It makes you hope these songs won’t be abandoned and will appear in a more fully developed form on future Psycho+logical Records releases.
At the end of the day this double EP fulfills it’s purpose as it keeps the momentum from the outstanding DIE! album going while it serves as an appetizer for great things to come. In that regard in seems kind of unfair to fault the album for being a bit slight on songs, verses and polish. It also illustrates that after all these years Necro hasn’t run out of steam and has enough ideas in his warped mind for more than a few new full length LP’s down the line. This record could already have been that next great album. The concept was in place along with the beats and rhymes but because of it’s short length it ends up being one hell of a preview. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait too long for that G Rap & Necro Godfathers collabo.
Recommended: The System, GORE!, Tough Jew, For The Streets, Sharon’s Fetus