by DJ Slim

Proving that there is quality hip-hop north of the border, Halifax, Canada’s premier export – Classified - is back with a new album on Urbnet Records.  Classified hooks up with the likes of Royce 5’9 and the criminally slept on Choclair amongst others for his latest self-produced album, Boy-Cott-In The Industry.

Standouts include the solid posse cut “Problemz,” “Unexplainable Hunger” and the old-school, horn-driven “5^th Element.”  Aside from the pre-requisite throw-downs and rap tirades, Classified brings a refreshing and honest down-to-earth twist to his rhymes.  On “High School Behaviour” he raps, “Now take a walk with me/ On a trip into history/ In high school where everyone grows quickly/ Where young girls learn how to be a dick-tease/ And every young guy thought he was the sh*t/ Please, I went through all the same things you did/ I was a skater, a jock, I was a rapper – still is, sh*t.”

Despite his realism, there are however the occasional missteps. Such an example can be found on the surplus-to-requirements “Beat Auction” interlude. Luckily, these are certainly in the minority across the 18 tracks. 

While the beats pretty much bang throughout, it is the easy to catch the rhyme, style and every-day mentality that should give Classified a charm beyond the fantastical tall tale telling of other MCs leaving him with a broad appeal for an ever growing hip-hop audience.