Straight outta Highland Park, up-and-coming poet-MC Anthony Morgan has just dropped an album full of honest lyrics and profound social wisdom. Don’t sleep, because under his apt moniker of s.k.l.f.l., this cat has crafted a collection of joints more relevant to the people of Detroit than the collective hip-pop opus of all our city’s MTV white boys put together.
A Poet’s Theme runs the lyrical gamut from song to spoken word to rapid-fire verse; it speaks a truth so personal to s.k.l.f.l. and his life here in the 313. The words Morgan spits on the record’s 11 tracks are about shit that’s inseparable from his geography: struggle, oppression, pride, love and loss.
Want proof? Check the album’s second track, “black me,” where s.k.l.f.l. states his case: “holdin’ to memories since mama died/open the common eyes/after being raped and ostracized/tribal clans modernized/ain’t no profits set aside/slave names/ erased no taking back who the grave claims/the master chases but I’m making tracks for spare change.”
And not only is his poetry righteous, it flows nicely, like high-speed headlines from the underground.
The production of Morgan’s revolution might fall a little short. And although a few of the beats, especially the ones on “black me” and “a poet’s theme,” recall a lovely sound from the days when Pete Rock ruled and the Hot Boyz were still playing hide-and-go-freak, many of the beats still don’t do s.k.l.f.l. justice. While a couple of skits could’ve been deleted, they aren’t enough to distract from the impressive product that Morgan and friends have created.
Take heed, y’all. This is an MC with enough sight to read the score and enough s.k.l.f.l. poetry to change it.
Campau Rock writes about music for Metro Times. E-Mail [email protected].
