James Christos

If James Christos’ latest album were a war, it would be Vietnam. Enigmatic is a dense jungle of heavy beats napalmed with rhymes. (Christos, of course, is no stranger to guerrilla tactics — just check the name of his label.) I’ve done some things, and I think you need to call somebody about it, he tells a doctor in Enigmatic‘s introduction. But Christos doesn’t need anyone to speak for him. The local lyricist is anything but enigmatic when it comes to spitting verse on the 10 tracks. His rhymes seize into abstractions, with one track (“A Beautiful Affair”) dedicated to the nebulous goal of “psychological evolution.” Enigmatic‘s beats, layered with throbbing electric guitars that would be at home in a rock track, reflect a  brave defiance of his genre. I’m here to kill ’em all/And put ’em in a body bag, he warns fellow artists between cymbal crashes. Enigmatic is an inspired session of hip-hop that rocks and rolls with rebellious furor.