crooked-i-mrpigface-weapon-waist

You’ve got to give Crooked I credit for creativity. Few are better at generating underground buzz, the latest example being the ridiculous cover to his new EP, Mr. Pigface Weapon Waist. Both cover and title suggest the project to be an adventure in weirdness. But surprisingly, there’s no stylistic difference between the Crooked I we’ve known and “Mr. Pig Face.” The creativity of the cover doesn’t carry over to the music.

The potential of a unique Pig Face persona pervades the intro but Crooked seems uncommitted from the first full track “Mr. Pig Face.” and beyond. By the end of the first verse, he’s shouting out Slaughterhouse and you feel like you’ve been here before. The subject content is exactly what you’d expect from a Crooked I album: a mix of State of Hip-Hop pontifications, gangster shit and self-promotion. He drops plenty of hard references and multi-syllabic rhymes to keep (all 12,000) Slaughterhouse devotees  happy (“A new verse is a new hearse, try to kill G Shit I’m killing you first.”) And he shows improved song craft on “One More Time.” The maestro on hand P. Silva provides a backdrop for Crooked to elaborate on his own prolific conquests: “It’s all about choking chicks with my dick then get behind her/while I’m giving her the Heimlich/Bend that tail over you dig, I’m signing off male chauvinist pig.”

Pig Face does boast a solid guest list. Fellow Angelino Snoop Dogg lends some gangsta cred to the minimalist drums of “Guess Who’s Back.” And Joel and Royce show up as well. But their presence kills the Pig Face concept turning the album into a Slaughterhouse leftovers affair. Only the M.O.P. collaboration “Woodstock Hip-Hop,” sounds fresh, as the natural synergy between the two hardcore groups brings the best out of both.

EPs can be used to flesh out a concept or continue momentum from a prior outing. Conceptually, Mr. Pigface Weapon Waist never really gets off the ground, as Crooked prefers to slip back into his comfort zone with his bitch Bonnie. That may good enough to maintain momentum momentarily, but this EP won’t be his breakthrough moment.

3cigs