Ape & Undu | Jaw & Order

Trapjaw (2009)
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  February 3, 2010
3.0 3.0 Stars

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This is not your typical bi-racial indie-rap duo with a whiteboy who rips and a tandem token black guy who holds the honky's jockstrap. Ape$hit and Undu Kati are MCs from different branches of the same style tree — sort of like New Hampshire's answer to Capone-N-Noreaga.

Although he's been New England's battle-rap champ (off and on) for several years now, Ape escapes the stigmata that often attach (deservingly) to artists blessed with improv prowess. In fact, other freestyle masters might want to sample his technique: dude rhymes just the way he does in combat, with a half-clumsy cadence fit for clever antics and the occasional enlightened snap.

Over delicious and in some cases impressively ironic sonic slabs, Undu proves comparably competent, and the Bronx-born Granite State transplant shines with Ape alongside such esteemed guests as Apathy ("Gotta Be the Shoes") and King Magnetic ("Attack!!"). Even yawners like "That's Not Me" are worth a few rotations, as each blimp of a line is fueled with equal parts blue flames and hot air. That's a compliment, because even when Ape$hit is just flinging diarrhea, there's always some serious stank on it.

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