Staring down hip-hop's tiresome faddishness, Pete Nice's Hoppoh Records & Bobbito Garcia's Hit U Off Management offer up the perfect antidote: a new kinda rapper who calls himself Kurious. With "A Constipated Monkey" -- his 12 song debut album -- Kurious embarks on an illuminated journey into the center of his schizoid universe all set to a soundtrack of dope beats and fluid musical snippets courtesy of fellow Latin hip-hop artists, The Beatnuts & Stimulated Dummies. As inquisitive as his cartoon namesake, Kurious trades in reality -- not hardcore gangsta caricatures -- and finds a bizarre universe hidden in the tiny details and humorous mishaps that make up everyday life. His down-to-earth lyrics and slicing rhyming skills have earned Kurious the most precious of rap commodities: respect from the New York hip-hop community from which he sprang. "The key to my whole deal," says Kurious, "is that it's natural, I'm not trying to prove any point. I never brag about having money 'cause I don't have any." But never mind the disclaimer, the main weapon in the Kurious arsenal is his razor-sharp wit. - via Kurious' Hoppah Records promotional press kit. Unappreciated!