Back in 1991, N.Y.OIL (then known as Kool Kim of the U.M.C.s) dressed like a color-blind Breakin’ extra and rapped with clever ebullience about “blue cheese.” Seventeen years later, he’s resurfaced as an angry elder statesman with a blunt hard-truths message that (mostly) succeeds where it might easily annoy. From his indictment of materialistic rappers “Y’all Should All Get Lynched” (which specifically called out 50 Cent, Dipset, the Game, and Lil’ Kim in a controversial video) to the broodingly introspective “Self Destrukkktion,” the Staten Island native takes the hip-hop community to task, with sincere intensity rather than sanctimony. Witness the scathing title track, where his anti-crack-rap sentiments seem especially urgent in a post–Hip Hop Is Dead environment.
