Sean Price has always rapped with a hard-edged whimsy. He's earned a dual fan base of backpackers and indie kids like fellow East Coast old-heads Ghostface and MF Doom, but despite name-dropping Malachi York, Tony Atlas, and Hotel Rwanda on his second official solo album, he's never been quite weird enough to curry as much favor with the avant-garde. Instead, with an effortless delivery and mastery of negative space, the artist once known as Ruck of Heltah Skeltah spends most of Supastar boasting about "f#cking people up" and lamenting the idea that he's "the brokest rapper you know." As Sean P pledges, "All praises due to the rhyme," over revving motorcycle synths and an interpolation of Gap Band's 1979 "I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up and Dance (Oops, Upside Your Head)," his altar runs red not only from blood of sucker MCs, but also from his sacrifice of song topicality. This is traditionalist boom-bap, mainly scored by North Carolina sample-choppers 9th Wonder and Khrysis. Guests like Little Brother's Phonte, Buckshot, and Sadat X nestle in comfortably. But when Price makes it all about himself--like on the breezy, guitar-loaded "Mess You Made"--complaints about "not having a hit since '96" and "making sure Elijah ain't bummy in school" prove that, despite appearances, Price has a vision beyond aggro one-liners. - Vibe (2/07).
The Jesus Price Supastar review in Vibe Magazine is below...
