I would say if your a fan of Warcloud then you should love this album, but lets be real for a minute…other than myself , Godmode and I’m assuming JB, I doubt Warcloud has any fans that read this site (or elsewhere). There has been a real resurgence of a raw late 90s style in the New Zealand scene over the last year or so and Rebel Without Applause is arguably the best representation of that sound to come out yet. The album has a real Wu feel to it (in particular Supreme clientèle era Ghostface), think plenty of Rza style beats, dope lyrics for the sake of dope lyrics and hooks that are more complex than your average rappers most lyrical verse. My favourite MC from the Villains crew (and also a member of the Silverback collective), JB uses a lot of unorthodox schemes, cryptic rhymes and crazy imagery on Rebel, and in doing so constantly keeps you guessing what’s coming next. This adds to the replay value as I’d wager you’ll be finding dope lines after your fifth or so listen that you had missed up until then. With JB’s raps alone this is hot piss but add a dope line up of guest rappers including Mareko, Flowz, Usouljah, Tyna and more and you’ve got yourself a high quality ‘not for jeggings wearing fans of pansy ass glittery rap’ release. Get that or forever live in regret for not getting it.
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DOWNLOAD: JB – Rebel Without Applause
