Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email [email protected].
K-Rino
Book Number 7 (Black Book Int'l, 2007)
We have written at length about the brilliance of K-Rino, SPC's HNIC and venerable lyrical marksman. In short, he is a genius, that much is understood. And
Book Number 7 ranks somewhere among his top three albums (
Time Traveler is definitely better; Worst Rapper Alive might be).
Y'allmustaforgotability: 91 percent
The fact that more people don't know about this album is a testament to the Diddyfication of hip-hop. Granted, on account of the depth and conceptual dexterity of his lyrics, K-Rino doesn't rank very high on the "MCs You Want To Listen To Every Single Day," but still, the people that argue against his effectiveness are the same dolts that argue that The Sopranos was better than The Wire.
Read what Y'allmustaforgotability means.
Best Song on the Album: Ack. Best song? Which of yours is your favorite child? What is your favorite time of the day to masturbate? These are impossible questions to answer objectively.
Most Obvious Feature Lacking From The Album: How Bushwick Bill was not enlisted for group track "Multiple Choice Murders" is beyond us.
Most Expository Line On The Album: The line from "Line For Line" where Rino claims that he was "initiated into the rap game by pressing my tongue against the sun." In part, because it's just some cool shit. But also because it might actually be true. Yes, K-Rino has proven himself crafty enough over the duration of his 20-plus-year career that we legitimately believe he may have actually pressed his tongue against the sun.
Obscure Fact(s) You Can Pawn Off As Your Own So As To Make Yourself Look Smart:
Here's one for you: When we spoke to Ganksta NIP a while back, we made certain to ask him how the SPC came to be. He told a great story about how, at the time, he and K-Rino were attending different high school. They had heard about each other's exploits as battle rappers, and even traveled to each other's high schools, but never stood toe to toe. Eventually, a battle was set up.
They met up at the corner of something and something (sorry, the street names have slipped our mind) and went at it. NIP is much more of a visceral battle-rapper, so he opted for the "I'll slit your throat and drink your blood"-type rhymes while K-Rino went the opposite route. According to NIP, they "battled for hours." The skies, which had been bright and sunny earlier in the day, grayed. Menacing clouds blotted out the sun. A massive storm ensued.
The battle was called a draw and forces were united. Thus, the SPC was born. When we recounted this to K-Rino, he simply smiled and stated, "It was something like that."
