Reach

Kansas City lyricist Reach has found a niche in the thriving local hip-hop community with a free-and-easy approach, adding another ingredient to the melting pot of diverse styles and influences that has made this scene flourish. Having spent the past few years honing his craft in front of audiences (as well as contributing guest vocals to a handful of local releases), Reach steps up to the plate with his first full-length, Joys, Disappointments and the In-Between, an album that, as the title suggests, is ripe with a hodgepodge of observations and insight. But the disc, missing the flair that has earned Reach status onstage, plods along with monotonous vocal patterns that rarely hit. It’s no surprise that one of the album’s standout tracks, “Wannabeanmc?,” enlists the help of C.E.S. Cru MCs Ubiquitous and Godemis to keep the pace fresh and mobile, suggesting that Reach’s studio delivery may be more suited to posse cuts than to a main course.