3.5/5 stars
"Situation" isn't nearly as haunting as "Talkin' Honky Blues," the lyrics aren't as interesting or poetic as the majority of songs on "Secret House Against the World," and the music is fairly bare for Buck 65. But against all that "Situation" has a lot going for it. It is the most straight forward hip hop album he has done in long time, instead of the avant-garde folk rap he has been creating lately. Buck 65 still isn't the most talented MC in the world, but his skill has come a long way since his last album "Secret House Against the World." His flow has become a lot more fluid and at the same time, more immediate.
For "Situation" Buck 65 has created an entire concept album around the year 1957. Instead of being a history lesson, this allows him to do what he does best, tell the stories of a very wide cast of characters. Righteous cops, killers, gangsters, high school jocks, rebels, stalkers, pornographers, pin up girls, and beat poets populate the many different view points in the music. "Shutter Buggin'" is about a pornographer who sees his job as a "funny biz, I'm not saying I like it, it's just where the money is." "Heatwave" has one of the many cops on the album, who is "comin' to get ya" if you're the "scum of the earth." It's an interesting and refreshing view for a hip hop artist to take.
For his new concept Buck 65 has ditched the folk and country influences, for a more modern hip hop sound with turntables and samples. Its not nearly as exciting or groundbreaking as previous efforts but it suits the album. The piano loop in 1957 is dramatic and enticing, and the organ in "Way Back When" has single written all over it. His gravely voice sounds better over more layered songs than the minimal ones like "Spread 'em" and "Lipstick." But even with all its faults, Buck 65's rich characterizations and newly discover MC skills, hold the album up.
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