Cunninlynguists - Will Rap For Food

1. Will Rap For Food
2. Lynguistics
3. Mic Like A Memory feat. Kory Calico
4. So Live!
5. Hey
6. Fukinwichu
7. Ain't No Way feat. Mr. SOS and Anetra
8. Missing Children feat. Braille
9. Midnight
10. Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts feat. Jugga The Bully and Mr. Raw
11. Kno's Diggin'
12. Halfanimal
13. Family Ties feat. Cashmere the Professional
14. Dirty South
15. Mindstate
16. Takin' The Loss feat. Jugga The Bully
17. Not Guilty
18. 616 Rewind feat. Tonedeff, Sankofa, Kashal-Tee & Celph Titled

Cunninlynguists' first album, Will Rap For Food, is a stunning, yet overlooked debut from one of the finest southern hip-hop groups. This album does take a little bit of time to grow on you, especially if you grew up listening to A Piece of Strange or Dirty Acres before this. While still containing their introspection ("Mic Like a Memory", "Missing Children", "Family Ties"), there's a bigger focus on battle rhymes that Deacon the Villain and Kno ditch in later albums. Not to say these tracks are bad - most are comical ("Fukinwichu", "Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts"), but other tracks like "So Live" are party-ish tracks that don't fit. Lyrically, this ranks up there as one of their best; Kno and Deacon's flows are above-average as well. And while there's a few too many interludes (5 total), there doesn't seem to be an absence of material to sink your teeth into. Production is handled completely by Kno, excluding "So Live", produced by a young Celph Titled, and is the norm for Cunninlynguist-style production - that is, old samples you've never heard of and will never hear of again, tinged with a bit of soul. Overall, this is an excellent debut album from an excellent group that should be up there with the ranks of Outkast if given more exposure.

Beats & Production: 9/10

Rhymes & Lyricism: 10/10

Originality & Creativity: 10/10

Overall Grade: A

Download (Mediafire)