"Circumsizing the Industry," the new album by local emcees Space and Jonathan Toth from Hoth, seeks not just to circumcise the hip-hop industry but also to transform it completely. Both men are proud St. Louisans, where in their own words, "the nation's most dangerous city is at."
The title refers to wanting to cut out or "circumsize" all the lame parts of hip-hop.
In a music industry where hip-hop music on radio and television is essentially pop music, and pop music has completely absorbed the cliches of hip-hop culture, Space and Jonathan Toth experiment with hip-hop by throwing out all the rules of the genre.
Sneering at the slurred speech of some of their St. Louis brethren, these two rhyme clearly and concisely, enabling the listener to discover the sometimes incredibly intelligent "twisted linguistics."
Lyrically, they deal with issues such as getting old, trying to make enough money to feed oneself while staying true to the underground, the high price of gas, the racial injustice of the police and the serious problem of murder in St. Louis.
While these topics are examples of where the duo prove they have enough innovation and intelligence to rise above thug stereotypes, they many times lapse back into the same old cliches about players, "hos" and getting high.
Even if the intention was to make fun of songs about smoking weed and running the streets, the prevalent use of the "n-word" is so obnoxious that the joke is lost, and the more interesting lyrics fade into the background.
On the song "We Got That Good Good," Toth talks about how the weak rhymes on MTV inspired him to do his thing. Toth's thing, it seems, is mixing up his lazy, old Snoop style flow with his slightly grating singing voice, reminiscent of the late Bradley Nowell of Sublime.
Mixed up sonically as well, the album's variations on rock, old soul, movie sound-bytes and dance music are at times pretty chaotic but always catchy.
The track "If Youz a Player," featuring the female rapper Toyy, seems like an instant club hit. Sampled from the children's classic, "If You're Happy and You Know It," this bouncy sing-a-long is decidedly more adult, requesting, "If youz a player and you know it, clap your hands."
Sampling a children's classic seems to be one of the hip-hop industry stand-bys that Space and Toth embrace with enthusiasm.
Opening with a string orchestra, "Down By the River," the first track and most obvious choice for a breakout single, serves as an ode to St. Louis.
Space, "born by the mighty Mississippi," laments that his hometown is home to guns, thugs and drugs. He gives it to you straight, you have to learn to get your money quickly because there are cops on every block.
Space, like most in his neighborhood, was born with the "goal to get the dough." It is an unflinching look at the urban St. Louis plague of poverty and crime and the perpetuation of that cycle as seen from an insider.
Despite this brutal assessment, he has nothing but love for his hometown and seems to hope for better days.
Toth and the fellow artists on his Frozen Food Section label do seem to want to make a difference in St. Louis, by fostering a sense of community and racial diversity in the local hip-hop scene.
Space and Toth seem to be doing a good job keeping it down on the underground but if they ever want to help the hip-hop industry on a larger scale, they need to ditch the derogatory language and stick to the fresh lyrics that make them stand out from the rest of the scene.
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