Rapper ShowYouSuck Does Anything But On New Mixtape

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 10, 2012 8:50PM

Chicago emcee ShowYouSuck doesn’t make it easy on himself. There’s his moniker, thick with lowered expectations. There’s the title of his new mixtape, One Man Pizza Party 2: Mo Slices, Mo Problems, released just before the new year. It's a follow-up to, you guessed it, One Man Pizza Party, which sounds like a rejected title for a Weird Al album. And there’s the fact that, on his Twitter bio, the man writes, “I rap horribly.” Of course, this brand of self-deprecation is how rappers play possum: they go on about how bad they are at the rap game, and then, just when you have your guard down, WHAM. You’ve been served. In the listeners’ case, this means being slowly, but surely won over by Mo Slices, Mo Problems’ laid-back but cock-sure party-rap.

Problems is more layered and sonically dense than most other hip-hop of its kind, but it doesn’t quite catch the ear until “All Loc Everything.” Produced by Flosstradamus, it’s the kind of upbeat, hands-raising banger you should be blasting out your speakers right now, while it’s still nice outside. From there, Show puts on one, bumpin’ up the tempos, and ditchin’ the slower electronics found on early cuts like “Flowers” and “House of Yes” for more uptempo, busier tracks like “Yesterday’s Clothes” and “Clearance,” even displaying a fresh, funky sense of humor on “Full of It,” which features local indie favorite Netherfriends. On the whole, ShowYouSuck does anything but on his new mixtape. That pizza party of his won’t be a solo affair for much longer.

DOWNLOAD: One Man Pizza Party 2: Mo Slices, Mo Problems

Show You Suck, The Whoevers, and Chandler London play Friday, January 13, at Reggies, 2109 S. State Street, 10:30 p.m., Tickets are $5 before midnight, $8 after, 18+