N.Y. Oil

For all of the love heaped on politically minded hip-hop artists like Public Enemy and KRS-One, very few MCs over the years have chosen to dedicate entire albums to vitriolic message raps. Staten Island lyrical militant N.Y. Oil is looking to resurrect that rarely enacted tradition with his ferocious new two-set, Hood Treason. Using the first two cuts to warm up his creative juices, Oil takes a trip down hip-hop’s memory lane before creatively cherishing a female representative of the "purrrfect beat.” Then it’s onto the record’s main thesis, namely the self-destruction of black people in the hood. Over the course of the next hour-plus, the NY native pulls no punches in attacking everything from "no snitch” culture and deadbeat dads to ignorant "N-word” lovers, at times letting his ideas get a little too heated, extreme and even offensive over a wide array of generally memorable beats. When he pulls it back though, there’s a lot of good material here but unless you’re the type to sleep with your fist in the air, be prepared for some serious preaching.