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P.O.S. - Never Better
| Tinymixtapes |
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P.O.S. is a victim of misplaced marketing. Three records into his career, the Minnesotan MC still can’t shake the “grown-up punk” angle. Yeah, he also plays in a punk band. How revolutionary and interesting. And to think he can rap, too. Let’s never stop talking about how radical it is that one person might be into more than one style of music. And then, with the release of Never Better the angle is the packaging: an admittedly cool clear-plastic digipak with mix-and-match cover art. Nifty, but ultimately inconsequential. This halo of trivia that adorns his head only obscures what really matters: P.O.S. is good. Real good. His elastic flow slings alliterative rhymes and super-specific pop culture references (“Dufrane, party of four”), while he balances the swing and bludgeon of his beats with charisma and conviction. Too often we’re tempted to erect a wall between hip-hop and rock, acting shocked when the two bump shoulders — as they do so effortlessly on Never Better — and pretending like Rick Rubin never had anything to do with Def Jam. No, this isn’t a rock record; it’s hip-hop to its very core. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t rock, either. It doesn’t mean P.O.S. can’t turn head-nods into headbangs or a sample into a riff. And still, whether or not P.O.S. grew up on Fugazi and Nas — both of whom he nods to on the record — is trivia. What matters is how the MC carries himself, which is chest-puffed, fists-clenched and tongue venomous. Images collide with narrative, filling songs with vibrancy. “Been Afraid” turns a broken home story into steely drama. “Purexed” drops its cleverest line — “hands steadily Purexed, but never quite clean” — like a manifesto, tying the song’s patchwork of visceral imagery into a bumper-sticker-sized slogan. Then comes the hook, like cavalry. We know P.O.S. isn’t happy with the world, but he’s gonna keep trying. Hope’s alive on Never Better, and it’s the glue that holds us together as the world beats down on us....full text |
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| Culturebully |
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Three minutes into Never Better, P.O.S. has already taken stabs at the government, gawked at the recession, used Macho Man as a verb, referenced The Dude, and gave shout-outs to both his crew (Doomtree) and his label (Rhymesayers). And “Let it Rattle” is one of the mellowest tracks on the MC’s third full-length release. Never Better is an album as highly anticipated as any recent Twin Cities’ releases, but saying that it makes good on expectation might not be doing it justice. Saying that the record meets the standard set by last year’s Doomtree, Cecil Otter or Mike Mictlan and Lazerbeak releases would be true, but might not be true enough. Roughly two years ago, I first heard tracks from an album that has since changed the way I think about hip hop and the way I listen to MCs. That album was El-P’s epic I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, and to express the immediate awe experienced when listening to Never Better, that might be the only fitting comparison. Following “Let it Rattle,” the first thing that pops out of the speakers is the raging drum loop that introduces “Drumroll (We’re All Thirsty).” Blazing percussion plays a recurring role throughout Never Better, reappearing in full force on “Purexed” and “The Basics (Alright).” To give you a better idea, take the organ intro from Common’s “The People,” introduce the song with a few bars, then dive straight into a thrash-metal snare loop—that’s what you’ll hear with “Purexed.” But it’s not just the drum ‘n bass loops (sans ‘n bass) that draw you in, it’s the entire musical body—“The Basics” delivers a snap that almost overshadows its insane beat, adding another loop that sounds a bit like an elderly version of those chipmunks Kanye used to sample. The whole thing is unlike anything I’ve heard before....full text |
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| Sputnikmusic |
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Certain pretentious publications expound a synthesis of punk and hip-hop somewhere within the boundaries of Never Better; armed with a pitchfork to feed their cattle generalities from a hay bale of wordiness, they’re only partially correct. In his latest album, POS further expands his career; a promise of cohesion on the decent Audition made this potential apparent, especially looking back to the mediocre Ipecac Neat. A quick Wikipedia search yields troves of common blogosphere knowledge on the topic of Stefon Alexander – POS was a punk rocker, POS has different meanings for his name, POS is political. While ultimately self-defining to realize where one is from, these things do not define artistic representation. Guess what? POS is a rapper, and Never Better is an excellent hip-hop album. The most apparent difference from the Audition of three years ago lies within the unique production here. While Dalek’s Gutter Tactics was supposed to be the dissonant masterpiece of 2009, POS makes his own case for consideration with the noisy-come-melodic “Let It Rattle”, heavily dynamic “Purexed”, soulful “Been Afraid”, old-school influenced “Savion Glover” (yes the tap dancing one), and generally well-structured compositions. Both Doomtree-repping Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger lend their services to make the final listen a completely varied, yet tasteful effort, injecting a decidedly Doomtree-flavored spice to the recipe (see first single “Goodbye” for a perfect example – crew dedication “Low Light Low Life” is almost too much of a spotlight theft, but still interesting in its own right). Ultimately, most tracks careen into a near epic quality; the closer “The Brave And The Snake” exudes this perfectly, straddling a fine line between chaos and beauty by contrasting quiet flutes with explosive cymbal crashes and heavy bass lines....full text |
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