I won't bore you with his full backstory, but there's a couple things that are essential to know. From what Cage has stated, his biological father had a crazy drug problem. At a young age, Cage was watching his dad abuse drugs right in front of him. Life got worse when his stepfather steps onto the scene, as he gets beaten every single day. Sadly there are exceptions, but most children don't go through all this. His mother didn't seem to realize this and convinced a judge that her son was insane. Soon after, he was committed into a mental institution. If you end up listening to Movies For The Blind, you're going to heard some pretty crazy ass shit, but at least you now know why Cage was so fucked up.
Shock value is something that will get you notice, especially with a younger audience. All that's interesting for the first couple listens, but it certainly helps when you have some real rapping skills. Cage certainly thought so, which may have been behind his beef with Marshall Mathers. The messed up backstory grabs attention, but the full story of Cage Kennyls doesn't become a blockbuster until Eminem enters the equation. Em has a long history of hip hop fueds, but one of his first came at the hand of our host. It certainly shows Cage's longevity in hip hop: he was relevant enough in 1997 to diss Eminem, who he claimed bit his style in The Slim Shady EP. I still find it really fucking stupid that Chris though he was the only rapper that could dabble into horror-core, but I don't want to get into all that. You can do some research yourself, but the feud never exploded to a Ja Rule level. A few obscure diss tracks were created, but there was no real ending. Hell, they could still be quarreling, but I don't think anyone cares at this point. Taking a look at both careers today, its hard to believe this beef even happened.
Movies For The Blind is technically his debut, but Cage's first work was Porn Again, a project with the Pet Smuddlers. Apparently Chris was also a fan of pornography, but aren't we all. Pet Smuddlers consisted of DJ Mighty Mi and Mr. Eon. The album obtained critical acclaim, but I wouldn't recommend tracking it down. I mean, life is just too short to find every single project from a rapper you only half way enjoy. The real entertainment came on the album we are currently discussing. Underground heads claim it to be a classic, while others, including Cage him-fucking-self, have tossed this to the side.
I guess its time to see where I fall on the spectrum...
1. Morning Dips
I always love seeing what kind of creative name rappers find for their intros. I hope you weren't expecting greatness.
2. Escape To '88
Cage starts things off with one of the albums most high profile songs. Before I say too much, this is where he pulls out the Eminem reference. He makes sure there's no confusion saying, "being black balled by a white MC... I guess that faggot found the right M.D.". Sure, it may have not been all that vicious, but I was still entertained. Since I'm such an Eminem fan, I've basically been taught not to like Cages music, so it was interesting hearing things from the other side of the beef. Mighty Mi's beat is of higher tempo and even features a guitar, which is the last thing I thought I'd hear from someone with Cage's subject matter. The element of surprise works quite well; this shit was pretty nice.
3. (Down) The Left Hand Path
Cage may have been onto something with the Eminem comparisons, but this resemblance comes in the form of a beat. I wouldn't ask twice if you told me this was a leftover from The Chronic 2001. There's way a lot of hit or miss on said album and this sounds unfinished as hell. Rush gets the production credit here, though, so I'll stop dwelling on Dr. Dre. Cage rhymes all over the place, covering as much topics as the time constraints will allow. I'm an admitted backpacker, so most of his lyrics appealed to me, but it just seemed fairly boring. Still a good enough track.
4. Teen Age Death
The overly stuffed lyrics of the last track are elevated to an even higher degree. It's interesting if you're into reading lyrics or simply want to hear some drug references, but most of it comes off an completely unrelated. C'mon man, I'm not asking for a beautifully structured masterpiece, but this shit doesn't even make sense. The late Camus Tao gets production credit, but gives me nothing to talk about. Wasn't feeling this one.
5. Too Much
I hate to keep harping on it, but this is exactly something Eminem would spit from his Slim Shady LP days. You all know how I feel about that album, so it's safe to say I dug this one. This song would only be alright without the brilliant instrumental provided by The Ghetto Professionals. These type of underground releases tend to have the same monotonous grimy tone on every song, which is still fine, but gets redundant at points. Not all of the beats on Movies For The Blind have been good, but its good to see he actually tried to have a signature sound.
6. In Stoney Lodge
This is one of the few Cage songs I had heard before listening to this album. When I looked at his work, I realized this track was produced by J-Zone, a favorite of mine. Honestly, it has no resemblance to anything J-Zone has ever cooked up. In simple terms, it's the audio version of insanity. Can you imagine sitting in the same room for an extended period of time with this song in the background. I'd last five minutes. Impressively, Cage uses this to his advantage, telling a three verse story about his time in a mental institution. This may not be for everyone, but you can chalk this up as my favorite song on the album so far.
7. Paranoia (Skit)
A blunt dipped in embalming fluid. Fuck...
8. The Soundtrack...
The last skit blends in beautifully into this track dedicated to beating the shit out of your stepfather. That fact that he's basically fantasizing about this is actually scary. Knowledge of Cage's life had already surfaced at this point, so we knew this wasn't pure shock value. Chris gets outs some real emotion into killing his stepfather. I'm not crazy enough to think up lyrics as detailed as this, but I would feel the same way if these thoughts had been bottled up my entire life. The hook wasn't very good, but I was surprised as hell it even showed up. An entertaining listen, but I don't think Cage was very worried about what you think about this song.
9. Among The Sleep
I am continuously shocked at how fucking great some of these instrumentals have been. This time its RJD2 providing this greatness, which Cage doesn't put to waste. It may be some of the most disgusting and vile lyrics you've ever heard, but his flow is so damn good you won't even realize what he's saying. This is one of our host's finest lyrical performances, as he describes his dream(s) with alarming clarity. Based off his lyrics and underground appeal, I'm surprised he chose to go with the traditional three verse and hook format for most of his songs. I don't know if other artist think they are too cool for all that, but its working pretty well for our host. Highly recommend checking this out.
10. Agent Orange
I'm not sure if this was a single, but "Agent Orange" was the first song most hip hop fans heard of Cage. Originally released in 1997, this was a featured song in The Source. Remember that shit actually mattered back then, so a positive review was nothing to shake your head at. I was intrigued as hell, but that may just be from the "A Clockwork Orange" (A movie that appears on the official "Hip-Hopinionated movie recommendations" list) references. Necro, who recently unfollowed me on Twitter, provides a nice and gloomy instrumental that seems a lot scarier than it should. The way he scratches the little girls voice is pretty sweet also. I'm glad Chris chose to keep this on his debut.
11. A Suicidal Failure
After that barrage of different producers, Cage returns back to his usual Mighty Mi beats. Creatively, Chris finds the most extreme ways the he can kill himself. Instead of shock value, this leans more to the emo side of rap, as he talks about how much of a failure his life has been. He's basically saying that living is his hell. Oddly, there's even a Masta Ace line in here. Apparently one of his buddies had some kind of minor beef with Cage. He doesn't say anything too devastating, but a acknowledges his presence. The real draw is the multiple ways he kills himself. Highly entertaining listen.
12. CK Won
Cage sounds proficient here, but the instrumental isn't doing much for me. Honestly, it's more of the same we've been hearing, but this album is on the verge of overkill. I'm not necessarily complaining, but it might be time for a change in topic. Being insane is fun for a while, but we've already explored his mind enough.
13. Unlike Tower 1 (Feat. Mr. Eon & Copywrite)
Wow, I didn't even realize Movies For The Blind hasn't had a single guest feature thus far. The trend finally comes to an end, as Pet Smuddlers companion Mr. Eon and fellow Weatherman member Copywrite join our host in the studio. There's no real sense of cohesiveness here; I'm sure each member just randomly sent in their verse via e-mail. Therefore we get more "Ill fuck your shit up" rap. That's fine, but the real problem is the instrumental. I don't know who consigned this, but it was fucking terrible. I don't hate this song, but this isn't what I wanted.
14. Under Satan's Authority
Mighty Mi provides another short instrumental interlude. The most unneeded thing I've seen all day.
15. A Crowd Killer
For underground artists, they need to realize they don't have many fans and the ones they do can leave at any given moment. I was refreshed to see Chris actually thank his fans for their support. Don't worry, he continuously insults you at the same damn time. Didn't want to get too emotional there. Once again, he throws a quick little shot at Eminem, this time being directed at his former wife. The final verse comes off as a diss towards himself, fueling the emo comparison. As interesting as all this sounds, there's no way I'll every listen to this again.
16. The Right Out
At least he doesn't feel the need to drag these interludes out...
17. Holdin' A Jar 2
Here's the song I've been waiting for the entire album. Why, you ask? Well, this particular track features the production of El-P, one of my favorite hip hop artists ever. As expected, he provides the album with the most abstract and experimental production we've heard so far. I may be biased, but this might be the best instrumental on the whole disc. Cage seems to think the same way, as he stops rapping and lets the beat ride out for another minute. That way we can appreciate it's greatness to a higher degree. It also helps that this is one of his finest lyrical performances. Refreshing to hear something different, making this one of the better songs.
18. Pussy, Money, & War (Feat. Copywrite)
From the lyrics to the song title, the final track sums up everything we've heard in the past hour. Aside from one final shot towards Eminem, this is mostly more shit talking that you may or may not be interested in hearing. I was fairly bored, but it was an appropriate way to end the album. My biggest gripe is the production provided by Mighty Mi. It doesn't ruin the song, but there isn't much to say about it. It's not a characteristic that would fit most underground rappers, but Cage actually sounds better over more polished production. This song was alright, though.
Rating: 3/5
I'm having a very hard time rating this album. Movies For The Blind certainly has it's moments, but could have been even better with more consistent production. I know I've complemented the beats throughout, but it's just been too sporadic for me to consider them great. Chris Palko's lyrics are demented as promised, but there's almost no change in subject. There's a couple standout lyrical performances, but even those root from drug use and killing people. I'm going to have to side with the artists himself (how fucking weird is that) and say this album's biggest fault is consistency. Cage knew he had to release something, but he ended up over stuffing the project. In no way is this review a knock of Cage's rapping. I would love to see him go toe to toe with Eminem, but this album isn't always entertaining. Still, I recognize it's importance in the underground, as it opened doors for numerous horrorcore acts. There's a couple tracks on here that I highly recommend checking out, but you shouldn't bother buying the whole album. Instead, save up for his release that's supposed to drop this year.