"Che Guevara, Rock Star? Fuck Off."

Buck 65- Situation (Warner/StrangeFamous 2007)

Buck 65's new album, Situation, is a collection of songs inspired directly or indirectly by the year 1957 - which is a unique subject considering we're talking about a rapper. But this be no normal rapper, and he ain't from the hood. Buck can paint a tapestry of scenes easily and get actually very specific about it, and it's actually really good hip-hop. It's really Canadian hip-hop, which is markedly different from mainstream (mostly) U.S. hip-hop. Whatever the case may be, Situation definitely warrants your attention and ear - especially "1957," "Lipstick," "Ho-Boys," "Benz," and "Heatwave."

I love Buck 65. That's right, so what? If you ever heard him you would too trust me. Buck, also known as Richard Terfry, has just released a new album called Situation, and surprise surprise, it's really, really good. Terfry is originally from Lower Sackville, NS and the Halifax area and has been spitting rhymes and releasing underground tapes for years. From my count, this would be around his 10th full length release, but that's not really important right now and besides, I've only been listening since 2002's Square dropped. If you have never heard anything about him before don't worry, Situation is a great introduction to the unique creativity of Buck 65.

Despite being an extremely gifted wordsmith with an inherent undestanding of the literati's beat, Buck hasn't really taken off completely. This might be chalked up to the relative infancy of the Lit-Hop genre, or Buck's own insistence on being both folk/country singer and MC/rapper. Personally, I don't think it's a problem but then again, I'm not the one who has to make a living out of it.

When Buck researches a subject or topic for an album, he really does it up right; in fact, Buck himself reminds me of a different age and time. He's not necessarily violent or aggressive in his style, and the scratches and rips from the DJ also evoke safety rather than fear. He is also clearly influenced by folk/country and small-town happy family atmosphere (that you only find in the East Coast, by the way). He has, sometimes rightly so, been referenced as the hip-hop version of Tom Waits yet that might be a bit of a stretch: Buck is a lot less experimental and weird than Waits, but they can sound alike sometimes. It's strange to have mentioned Square, since it is what Situation reminds me the most of. Right off the bat...

1. "Intro" transported me back to the scratch-heavy elements of Square, as well as the badass voice-overs. It's a great little piece to get you pumped for what is about to come.

2. "1957" opens with the Allen Ginsberg lyric from Howl, "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed/devoid of conviction, conflicted, annoyed," and it finally makes sense: this is an anthem (album) for the ones left behind. The year 1957, if you haven't already heard, is the central idea around which Buck wrote most of the material on this album. This is probably my favourite song on the album because it's just so simple and straightforward, but incredibly dense and meaningful lyrically speaking. Like, every line could be translated into something that pertains back to the central theme. So simply speaking, it's a pretty sick tune.

3. "Dang" opens up with a big band, zoot-suit-type atmosphere with Buck interjecting verses here and there, coming back to the unfortunate chorus, which makes me nervously remember Kid Rock. But the steady tambourine keeps me warm. Keeps me warm.

4. "Lipstick" is a song based loosely on the disappearance of the strikingly beautiful starlot and pinup Betty Page. Here we hear Buck rapping about the pornography industry in the 1950s of which Page was a part.

5. "Shutter Buggin' " is a contuance of "Lipstick" dealing with the life of a photographer, "The customer's always right/even if you say it's wrong. I don't ask questions/and the girls just play along." This is vintage Buck 65: rapping about the "unclean" elements of survival but also is able to infuse some moral direction into his verses. Buck is no hedonist but certainly no hard-ass conservative either.

6. "Spread 'Em" is a disturbing little track probably more suited for live performance. You can envision the carnival type atmosphere this would produce at a show filled with recreational drug users. This is no surprise though, Buck often throws a comedic track or two in his mixes (e.g. "Talkin' Fishin' Blues"; "Square 4").

7. "Ho-Boys" is the 'gun 'dat did me.' It's ostensibly a reference to the 1200 Hobos of "Square One" and the lyrical content is a direct connection to the same song. This is also what I love about Buck. He often talks about a itinerant class of travellers who seem to have taken their potential power with them out of the system back into the streets. They are transient students, musicians, and artists. They are people who refuse to cement themselves to one setting, one location, one idea. It is the future he is rapping about. This song is also one of those sick driving songs Buck is known for. The wasteland is a common reference and from that waste comes a tremendous desire to survive, which doesn't care if it's 1957 or 2007. This is another favourite on this album.

8. "Way Back When" is a "Wicked and Weird" type song, which isn't to say it's good or bad; it just has that feel is all. There is also weird old school keyboards that add nicely to the retro-feel.

9. "Cop Shades" is another great song that should maybe have been moved up a couple songs. I like this song, "Rappers lift weights/But still can't rhyme strong," but the chorus is pretty terrible - that's the only bad thing about this track really. Like the previous songs, the lyrical quality is pretty impeccable. Also, the trumpet parts are played by none other than Mount Allison Alum and acclaimed musician David Myles

10. "The Beatific" is a call out to Buck's beloved Beat Generation poets, Che Guevara, and in general a time gone by. His consituents are "know-nothing bohemians, arcane Armenians, disobedient hicks addicted to the main ingredient." Notice also the refrain, "Che Guevara - rock star? Fuck off! The beat, the beat."
11. "Mr. Nobody" is a suitably creepy song about a divorced guy who is down on his luck and horribly depressed. It is also pretty creepy in a way that only Buck can create. And while it is creepy, it also has a benign humour to it.

The last few songs, "The Rebel," "Benz," "Heatwave," "The Outskirts," and "White Bread" are all amazing songs but all really just carry on the overarching theme of Situation. "Benz" is a nice change as it is a static-y, rushing rock/rap song. "The Outskirts" and "White Bread" are are softer in tone than any of the other songs on the album, and again, is a nice change.

Situation is an interesting record. I understand that it has this theme of 1957 which Buck has readily admitted, and the evidence of which is easily found in the lyrics. There is definitely a parallel, or at least an affinity, with the album Square (2002) wherein Buck talks about the 1200 hobos and the idea of the aforementioned travelling/working class of migrants. There is some sort of appeal to that idea that I can't quite place but know it has something to do with the latent polticial power inherent in such a throng (a la Negri and Hardt, as it were). But it's unknown to me if Buck 65 frequently peruses the pages of oft-dismissed Italian autonomists; I suppose that's my problem.

Situation is definitely more hip-hop than some of his previous releases but Buck is a hard artist to pin down, as he shows again and again (including on this record). He'll never be completely in one genre or the other, and I think that's a pretty envious position to be in. As a result, he will always get an over-abundance of questions asking him about his musical genre. Great album, definitely check it out - especially if you're sick of or hate the traditional, Top 50 Rap/Hip-Hop Chart singles. While Buck can give you that feel real easy, you won't be finding him there, for sure.


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- Adam Smith