Mellow Black

What sinks most Canadian MCs is their inability to string together compelling narratives. Mellow Black (or MySpace alias Mello Black) may be drowning. Mellow wastes the rainy day jazz vibe of "Cameraman” with cringe-inducing rhymes such as "When I’m on university campus thinking about all these girls I can’t kiss/wondering what’s my chances/probably about as good as my dances, which I learned back when C&C was on Dance Mix.” Parts of that are honest beyond anything you can find in mainstream hip-hop but it’s also as corny as the neutered emo rap Gym Class Heroes are making popular. That’s the major reason to get with this or get with something kind of phat. Oh, and the beats, except for Danny Diggs’s "Amygdala,” do little to shake this whole thing from its deep slumber.