Spitten King: Gold Room EP

Houston's Scottie Spitten is a very talented, very creative MC. He flaunts a monochromatic yet sporadic flow, recognized most often by whichever of producer King Midas's soul samples any given track lionizes, and Spitten's subtle punch lines. ("Charlie Brown, niggas, I'm like 'Good Grief.'") He first publicized his talents in 2007 with his shining contributions on Hueston Independent Spit District's The District, an impressive feat given that album's overall high quality. Now he's succumbed to his listeners' demands (sort of) and offered up five-song EP Gold Room, which is at times great — Spitten is clearly at his best on slower-paced tracks like "Piano Maze" and "Gold Room." His involved, meta wordplay can require some patience to fully appreciate — the mere 50 seconds of Duran ­Duran-sampling (!) "I'm On Fire" requires multiple listens to genuinely comprehend everything. Spitten has shown that, when uninhibited, he can write more substance into 16 bars than most MCs can in an entire song, so any misstep is magnified. ("Heavy is the head that wears the crown," or something like that.) But mind you, the fact that the chief knock against this EP is that Spitten is only great "at times" is like complaining that Yao Ming is only 7'6". Download Gold Room, then wait for Spitten's full-length album later this year.