Album Review: Cage – ‘Depart From Me’

Cage has successfully made an album for fans and passive listeners alike. Those who’ve already witnessed the artistic liberation of this smut peddling weatherman will still find plenty of reasons to keep Depart From Me close to heart throughout the summer.

From the bizarre Movies for the Blind to the well-rounded Hell’s Winter, Cage has definitely matured into his own, a point which becomes even more apparent on Depart from Me.

DFM hearkens to the same visceral undercurrent that ran through his previous two. The album opener “Nothing left to say” is reminiscent of El-P’s opening cut from I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. In fact, the album, as a whole, aspires to the same effect. It’s like a more rock-oriented version of ISWYD.

Like Eminem on Relapse, Cage uses drugs as crutches to get his point across on songs like “Kick Rocks,” a song about a struggling addict and “Dr. Strong,” which revisits his days as a “patient of Stony Lodge Hospital.” Unlike that other white rapper, though, Cage doesn’t beat us over the head. (Hey fellas, this is a perfect time to reignite that feud. I keed! I keed!!)

The songs on DFM follow a progressive path that allows you to sift through the album with relative ease. From the synth-heavy, slow-rolling tempo of “Eating Its Way out of Me” to the rattling funk of “Teenage Hands.” Beats by Blockhead, El-P and others ensure that DFM stays true to an esoteric style of hip hop that has been very prevalent in the Def Jux camp. The intentionally dark and rock-heavy instrumentals coupled with Cage’s brash lyrics combine to yield a captivating, if sometimes onerous, sound template.

Depart From Me is sometimes smart, sometimes cryptic, but it’s never boring.

Cage – Depart From Me Tracklist:

1. Nothing Left To Say
2. Beat Kids
3. Dr Strong
4. I Found My Mind In CT
5. I Lost It In Havertown
6. Teenage Hands
7. Eating Its Way Out Of Me
8. Kick Rocks
9. Katie’s Song
10. Strain
11. Fat Kids Need An Anthem
12. Look At What You Did
13. Depart From Me
14. I Never Knew You

Release Date: July 2009

Previously:
Cage – “I Never Knew You (INKY)” Video Shoot

Rizoh

Rizoh is the most powerful man in all the lands. He lives in Houston where he earned a BS in Nerf Herding. He's the founder of The Rap Up, the editor of Roc4Life.com, and is in the Grammy-awaiting band Pervertable Disciples.

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