Jesse Dangerously

Imagine how well-decorated the world would be if we all took lessons from Jesse Dangerously and expressed ourselves through those cute little paper sculptures. Jesse's sophomore self-released CD doesn’t teach you anything about the Japanese art form, but the rapid-fire rhyme assault and up-tempo beats are designed to rock — with very few exceptions. Jesse, better known as a producer (Restiform Bodies, Josh Martinez, Thesis Sahib, Wordburglar, Bleubird and more), is more than capable as a rapid-fire rapper, influenced by Buck 65’s multi-syllabic rhymes and boundary-pushing lyrics. Jesse handles all aspects of production and vocals on Origami, which is pretty much a collection of songs recorded between 1997 and 2004, some cut from his solo debut, Eastern Canadian World Tour 2002. Jesse nurtures confrontation with "A Single Gay Male On His Thirtieth Birthday,” a humanising counterpoint to all the gay-bashing that abounds in hip-hop. "Childish Fantasy” is on the simple side, although it is a humorous superstar fantasy, while "Trouble Brewing (1979)” is funky, up-tempo hip-hop, and "cover” song "Tom Lehrer’s The Elements” attempts to expose the hip-hop elitists to more than just the four (or is it now five?) elements. Backburner rapper-producer Jesse Dangerously delivers a damn fine album with Origami, but I’m curious where he’s at now.