Mac Lethal

11:11:00 AM

[4/5]


Mac Lethal, a self-described “Irish pothead who flows with no hair,” riffs cleverly on everything from the opportunistic activism of protest songs to the painful redundancy of recent Tool albums. Boasting a comedian’s arsenal (he name-checks Bill Hicks and raps about using Mitch Hedberg’s brainstem as a quill), Mac excels at observational detail (“Know It All” catalogs sharp character sketches), fantasy scenarios (making “Icelandic love” to Björk on a playground slide) and parody (“Pound That Beer” weds club-anthem crunk with Stomp The Yard). He fires a salvo at “hair-band-ass pop rap,” acknowledging he’s far from the first underground lyricist to do so but reasoning he’d rather beat a dead horse than ride it. Seven, Lazerbeak and Lenny D handle the production, providing bouncy Bossa nova grooves, sampled breathy chanteuses and colossal reggae-dub bass drops. A few lesser beats become background fodder behind Mac’s riveting rants, like the decorative compositions on Hicks’ Arizona Bay. (RHYMESAYERS) Andrew Miller