The New CALassic by Cal Chuchesta (2015) - Mixtape Review

Hi, everyone. Andras Mahan here, the Internet’s sincerest cinema nerd. And it’s time for a review of the debut mixtape by Cal Chuchesta: The New CALassic.

Cal Chuchesta is a rapper/producer, as well as the comedic alter-ego of music critic Anthony Fantano of the Needle Drop, a guy who I stumbled upon one day while looking for reviews of Aesop Rock’s Skelethon and immediately took a shine to. Sure, his more hipster-lead tendencies do shine through a little too much in some of his reviews, but otherwise, the guy comes across very articulate and insightful when it comes to the music he looks at. And on his show, he has the character of Cal as his roommate, who I guess is meant to represent the average pop radio listener that keeps calling everything new that they hear “teh best thing EVAR!” While his antics on the show were pretty adorkable, I’ll admit that he was more a distraction than anything else when Fantano was the guy I wanted to see. I guess this is how most people feel when reviews get interrupted by skits and/or storylines.

Every so often, Cal would showcase a beat he’d made to Anthony and, because of fan demand, he ended up releasing not one but three beat tapes full of them. And then in August of 2015, after a few track drops and a storyline in Fantano’s reviews about him selling his soul to the Devil for a record contract… which may be one of the weirdest attempts at viral marketing I’ve seen, this mixtape hit the online outlets to a welcoming response of “we know this is a joke”. Well, in spite of that, I will do my best to go over this thing’s merits and demerits as best I can because just treating it as a novelty release can only get you so far. Also, if you’re annoyed by how much I’m cribbing Anthony’s style for this intro, don’t worry: It’s just for this paragraph.

Starving Artist, Hungry Emcee (2009) by Masta Artisan - Album Review

A phrase that I’ve seen thrown around when it comes to the very idea of media criticism is “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, criticise.” Now, while I can kind of understand what would lead someone to such a conclusion, the fact that a large number of the critics that I’ll be covering for this month (and have indeed already covered) do work in the fields that they riff on on a regular basis would hopefully put the brakes on that ultimately narrow-minded line of reasoning. Hell, if nothing else, I still hope that all of this has led some more people to check out Brad Jones’ Freak Out for proof positive that these guys aren’t all talk. But what about when it comes to something like music, for instance? Can someone who makes a living out of putting poppy rap to task for their lyrics be able to hold his own in the same department? Time to find out as we delve into my first ever music review of Starving Artist, Hungry Emcee by Masta Artisan, better known online as the Rap Critic. Oh, and apologies in advance for the track-by-track breakdown approach as I try and find my sea legs with this new-ish format.