Reviews:: Mic Boyd - Lost In The Woods

If one were to view the Halflife records family as if it were Public Enemy (and why wouldn't you?), it seems fairly obvious to me that Mic Boyd is Flavor Flav to big brother Classified's Chuck D. Not that I'm saying Mic (or Mike, feels kind of odd calling someone Mic for some reason) is a cracked out reality show star, but whereas Class appears serious and business minded as the leader of the Halflife ship, Mic/Mike is more interested in copping some weed and finding a party. After listening to Mic's debut, Lost In The Woods, I doubt he'd disagree much with my assesment.

Now I'm not trying to say that Mic is a total goof, he gets serious on a couple songs, but for the most part he comes across as a fun-loving guy with a big personality, and that is the most obvious thing that comes across to me while listening to his album. And honestly I have no problem with that. I mean it's much easier to respect someone who makes a fun album like this one, which is true to who they are, rather than try and put on a front and pretend to be something thay aren't.

All right, after school special morals aside, is Lost In The Woods any good? Sure, it is. It didn't blow me away, and likely isn't going to cure cancer, but I didn't expect it to. It's a solid, fun album that harkens back to golden age hip hop in a lot of ways, which is always welcome. Something else always welcome is Class' production, and he gives Mic a solid assist right out of the gate with the big drums, horns, and soul vocal samples on the Rakim title-jacking Guess Who's Back. It's a proper intro heater and Mic laces it with a combination of ignorance ("get shafted in the ass but I ain't no faggot, not that there's anything wrong with that, you go faggots!") and comical punchlines ("I'm about to buy the bar out, but I can't decide between Kit Kat and Mars though") that typifies his style.

I mentioned Mic getting serious on occasion, and he does that on Ignored with a little help from labelmate Jordan Croucher. It's a tad generic as far as "conscious" hip hop songs go, but I've certainly heard worse. The skittering beat on Get Me Started sounds like something Busta might've gotten on before he became and actor (...and terrible...hey, who said that, uncalled for really), but Mic is able to speed up his flow to match it quite nicely. The weed-scoring anthem A Good Day features Mic singing pretty much the whole thing over Class' pleasant pianos and only rapping one verse. I don't love this, but just based on the concept, it's a tribute to Mic's personality and skill that it's as listenable as it is.

I could say pretty much the same thing about Michael's Mystery, which is a jazzy take on an episode of Scooby Doo - it's kind of funny, but could be terrible in the wrong hands. Love The One You're With is really an enjoyable song, and Classified likely realized this, so he snaked it for his last album, the rarity and favorite collection While You Were Sleeping. As I mentioned in my review for that album, Mike Boyd Sr. does a surprisingly good job on the hook for that song and he contirbutes vocals and guitar work to a few other songs on the album, making it truly a family affair.

In the end, Halflife and Mic Boyd have a decent album on their hands here. If you're looking for some solid Canadian hip hop this summer, you could do worse than getting lost in the woods with Mic Boyd.



Video:: Mic Boyd f. Classified - Guess Who's Back