Creature-Chester Himes EP review by John M. Ellison IV

I got this album by rapper Creature a few weeks ago. The album is named after crime novelist “Chester Himes.” Since I haven’t read anything by Himes, I’m not exactly sure of the correlation.
Not to label Creature’s style, but I would describe it as abstract rap. If you’re confused by the term or concept of abstract rap, think Kool Keith, MF Doom or now Shabazz Palaces. Could you imagine all of them on tour together? That would be awesome.

Here are the tracks that really caught my attention.

Embrace the Day

This is more or less freeform rhyming around the concept of taking chances and well…embracing the day.

Frying in the Sun

The concept to me is kind of vague, but from what I picked up it’s a freeform rhymes relaying around the theme of contradiction. The beginning is reminiscent of Devo’s cover of the Rolling Stones “Satisfaction” with an electronic 8-bit-ish production.

Afraid to Fly

This features Creature’s ability to speed rap over an electronic beat that sounds like an acid trip with old school Atari blips and beeps during the hallucination.

In closing, “Chester Himes” is an EP that’s ahead of its time and if you’re interested in something outside of the traditional rap mainstays, this could be of interest to you.

download here