Cage

Back before he was the poster boy for emo rap, Cage was a psychotic, unrelenting drug fiend who would express his dark inner desires with wicked wordplay, ghastly imagery and an honest ferociousness that made even the most unbelievable scenarios a little more likely. The Best and Worst of covers those early years when Cage was the Eastern Conference cash cow, including must-have classics like "Agent Orange," his magnum opus about the discovery of his inner Alex in an insane asylum over the theme song from A Clockwork Orange, "Stoney Lodge," which further examines that experience, and banging braggadocio battle tracks "Escape to 88" and "54." It also contains a small smattering of songs from collaboration projects such as Nighthawks, Leak Bros and Smut Peddlers, even if the liner notes fail to credit them at all. It may be a quick cash grab for EC and Good Hands but that doesn't mean it isn't also a great retrospective of that exciting period in the evolution of Chris Palko to Cage.