December 13, 2000
Gonzales : The Entertainist
Apparently he's on a "rap strike" for 2001, so make the most of this.
8 / 10
Chilly Gonzales is the Jewish MC from East Berlin, a Canadian ex-pat cartoon master-prankster and a media-manipulating supervillain. He's the compulsive liar who tells it like it is, a man so dope you get high just listening to his rhymes. A successful failure and a serious entertainer, he's the moron in oxymoron and with 'The Entertainist', he's truly surpassed himself. Whoever himself might be.
If it was hard to credit the hirsute rapper who earlier this year promised world domination via mass mind control while promoting an album of lush pop ballads (his debut, 'Uber Alles'), then 'The Entertainist' finds Chilly G keeping it (sur)realer still with a cutting-edge hip-hop tour de farce. Partly produced by DHR affiliates Patric Catani and Bomb 2Ø, with technical and verbal assistance from his performance sparring partners Peaches and Mocky, it's here the savage wit, addled storytelling and infectious self-belief which make Gonzales such an intriguing, baffling character is finally captured on plastic.
Without any discernible social or moral axe to grind, Gonzales "the man-made man" instead rallies against the industry ('Candy', 'So What Da Fuck?'), himself ('Prankster Fly') and his peers ('Higher Than You') with the kind of hypnotic, natural lyrical flow Eminem receives awards for ("If that sounds like Eminem, good, 'cos I can sound like any of 'em", he snorts on 'Higher Than You'). Add all this to the digital funk and highly irregular production that grinds beneath and you're presented with a genuine rap superstar whose ability clearly exceeds his medium of expression. Apparently he's on a
"rap strike" for 2001, so make the most of this.
Piers Martin
NEW! For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our brand new sister site, NME Video.
Comments do not always reflect the views of NME, or IPC Media, for guidelines visit our Ts & Cs page