.jpg)
When it comes to achievements and strengths, Kansas City’s Mac Lethal is as well rounded as rappers today get. Originally making headlines for winning the 2002 Scribble Jam MC Battle, then the most prestigious rap battle in the world, he’s toured ferociously and seen his fanbase grow through a steady stream of acclaimed releases on both Rhymesayers Entertainment and his own Black Clover Records imprint.
With enough wordplay and structure to appease the hip-hop traditionalists, as well as complex detailed storytelling to appease more analytical listeners, and an innate catchy musicality to attract casual music fans, Lethal’s got quite that arsenal that he continues to utilize on this week’s release of his Love Potion No. 6. A collection of outtakes from his forthcoming Irish Goodbye album with producer Michael “Seven” Summers, it shows Mac at the top of his game, Lethal as ever.
If you’re arriving late to his Lethalville Block Party, here’s a few essentials you should be familiar with:
Mac Lethal vs. Cashmere (Scribble Jam 2001)
The rap battle world goes through weird cyclical surges of popularity. Different styles are born out of different times and ever-changing, expanding niche audiences have all flocked to its different eras for different reasons.
During his active years on the circuit (2001-2004), Mac encapsulated what people wanted and where the world of battling was going. He mixed spontaneous observations and multi-syllabic rhyme schemes through a wholly original MST3K-esque web-of-pop-culture sense of humor that brought the house down. This is one of his first show-stealing performances that set the tone for one of rap-battling’s very few crossover industry success stories.
“Calm Down Baby” (2007)
After a series of successful tour-only compilations and two then-unreleased early drafts, 2007 saw the release of Mac’s official debut 11:11. Along with giving him a significant profile boost by having his song “Sun Storm” appear on MTV programming, the album contained “Calm Down Baby,” which managed to compact Mac’s thematic body of work into one song. Autobiographical introspection, relationship exploration, music taste comparison and referential barbs fill the four minute running time as Leonard Dstroy’s production makes the perfect backdrop for Mac to tell you exactly who he is and why he doesn’t care if you care.
“Lookin Bro” (2009)
Shortly after leaving Rhymesayers Entertainment, Mac achieved his first major viral hit with “Lookin Bro.” A re-imagining of the previous year’s Hot Stylz hit “Lookin Boy,” Lethal instead gives us a taste of proto-'Jersey Shore' guido-tainment by examining all the colors of the rain-bro. Cynical and sarcastic as ever, it began a series of equally successful YouTube hits, including his heralded hybrid of Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” and the Insane Clown Posse’s “Miracles.” Cyrus’ people legally blocked Mac from putting on any official release.
