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  • Genre:

    Rap / Rock

  • Label:

    G.O.O.D. Music

  • Reviewed:

    March 1, 2016

The self-titled G.O.O.D. Music debut from HXLT (F.K.A. rapper Hollywood Holt) aims to revisit a time when Debbie Harry and Grandmaster Flash rubbed elbows at New York’s Danceteria, but ends up feeling like getting invited to a friend's art show—you’re rooting for the guy, but man, some of this stuff is brutal.

No two genres are as similar in spirit as punk rock and rap. Both were created by poor young people as a way to express disdain with the status quo and provide some insight into the minds and hearts of people who usually don’t get a seat at the table. Both encourage a spirit of self-reliance that allows for a kid in Small Town X to create something that can stand confidently next to an icon. Both have been co-opted by the mainstream at large when they proved to be financially beneficial. Both have been sneered at by lames for not requiring much musical "skill" to execute.

Given all this, you'd think more punk and rap collaborations would turn out better. But usually, the people interested in uniting the genres go the laziest, most obvious route imaginable, and for every Death Grips you get someting like the self-titled G.O.O.D. Music debut from Nigel "HXLT" Holt's (F.K.A. rapper Hollywood Holt). The album aims to revisit a time when Debbie Harry and Grandmaster Flash rubbed elbows at New York’s Danceteria—creating a culture in the process— but ultimately ends up feeling like being invited to a friend's art show—you’re rooting for the guy but man, some of this stuff is brutal.

The album's sound is uncomplicated. He could have gone overboard with screeching guitars, but HXLT keeps things spare, closer to post-punk than punk. "Why" is a decent dark wave homage, taking dashes of the sound (choppy rhythm guitar, disinterested vocal stylings) and forcing the synths to get along with a drum machine doing yeoman's work. There’s elements of social awareness, too. On "Guitar," the Mano-produced standout, HXLT laments that he’d like to be famous solely to bring attention to real issues (the chorus: "I wish I could play guitar/ And write all the songs to make me rich/ Use it all to save the kids"). No complaints there.

The lyrics are another story; there are a ton of eyeroll moments here. While no one expects this guy to be Lou Reed, there’s gotta be something out there better than "Rock N Roll"’s "I wanna get into a fight in front of you and knock his lights out/ I wanna ride a motorbike, make you jump on it and we ride out." It’s a damn shame, too, because HXLT is an undeniable live performer, full of charisma: Put him on a stage right now anywhere and he's walking out with five new fans. Somewhere in him he might have a real punk anthem, but none of the songs on the record accurately bottle that energy. Other than "Sick," a song about the frustration of loving someone you honestly can’t stand half the time, the whole thing kind of ambles. Even the Kathleen Hanna-guested "Together" doesn’t gnash its teeth as much as you’d like it to. (Sidebar: Getting Kathleen Hanna on your first album has to be the punk equivalent of getting a Jay Z feature on your debut, right?)

A lot of the narrative surrounding this record has been about Holt finally embracing the influences traditional rap heads considered too weird, or "too white." Clap for him for sticking to his convictions but speaking frankly, a lot of people wouldn’t be giving this the time of day were it not presented via the Kanye West/G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam co-sign. The missed opportunity is the most frustrating part. What could have been a real shift in culture ends up feeling like moving into a new apartment: There’s some potential, but things are still all over the place.