Wordburglar

Rapplicable Skills

BY Kyle MullinPublished Aug 28, 2015

8
Gritty instrumentals and zany lyrics don't need to be mutually exclusive in hip-hop. That fact is proven by Haligonian rapper Wordburglar, whose latest album sounds hard and will leave you laughing even harder. The quirky MC has dubbed his eighth studio LP Rapplicable Skills, and has stuffed every moment of it with ludicrously hilarious lyricism. But all that silliness doesn't detract from the release's fine craftsmanship; Wordburglar delivers those foolish lines in triple- and quadruple-entendres over a backdrop of splintered, RZA-style beats.
 
Case in point: the gloriously titled "Je Ne Care Pas," on which Wordburglar spits complexly structured goofiness. Fans will also enjoy hearing Wordburglar hit peak geek on "Narc Hi-Score (In Nintendo Power)," which features an instrumental laced with that classic gaming console's primitive blips. The MC shows equal enthusiasm for sports history on "Bill Mosienko (21 Seconds)," a song named after the legendary Chicago Blackhawks right-winger, which may very well be hip-hop's first ode to hockey.
 
Wordburglar's longtime hometown followers will be elated to hear the local references on "Channel Halifax," and "The Other Shop," which features the perfectly apt line: "Women didn't go there, everything smelled like donair." Rapplicable Skills will leave you giggling as you nod along to the catchy beats. Hip-hop would do well to have more fun-loving, finely crafted albums like this.
(Backburner)

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