Sole
Selling Live Water
Underground rapper Sole carries a plus-size chip on his shoulder, born (presumably) of his outsider status, and he wears it defiantly throughout this new indie release.
Sole is one of the founding members of the maverick hip-hop collective Anticon, based in San Francisco and almost 100 percent Caucasian.
To hear him spit it, which he does copiously and at high speed, certain hip-hop factions haven’t been exactly welcoming.
“Always wanted to be a rapper, but when I finally made it there, no one wanted me,” he grouses on leadoff cut “Da Baddest Poet.” It’s a thread he follows through to the album-closing title track (“I could have been a lot bigger by now, but I’ve loved being a threat.”)
The MC does have an admirable knack for skewering hypocrisy of all stripes, and his quartet of producers concoct knife-edged, intriguing beats. If you can get past Sole’s persistent griping, “Selling Live Water” offers considerable rewards.
