Haaaa! Nostalgia!! As I was handed the daily dose of bills to pay from our mailbox, I came across a package addressed to me from the Forest Fire Collective, a collective of underground hip-hop emcees from the Bay area. I opened that package and the memories suddenly flooded my mind. It was a tape!! Yes, a tape like in the old days of hip-hop underground credentials. And isn’t that what Tiny Mix Tapes promotes? I quickly caught myself grinning and immediately put the tape in the player with great anticipation.
Mad Squirrel is one member of the Forest Fire Collective, a west coast soaked and influenced emcee with the flow like any of the areas more prolific crew. Actually, to compare to such artists like the Hieroglyphics and their fearless leader Del The Funkee Homosapien would be an understatement. The delivery and mixology is almost identical to the styles and sounds of Souls of Mischief or Pharcyde, but what differentiates Mad Squirrel from the more prolific artists is the effort that is evident throughout the album. Pinko shows many signs of desire and exertion that exemplifies Mad Squirrels’ love of hip-hop and its origin. Without falling too far from the areas natural sound, Mad Squirrel mixes and matches with old school/new school clash but comes out sounding refreshing and inventive.
What lacks on the album is the desire to listen to what Mad Squirrel has to say. Most of it is uninteresting hip-hop braggadocio or common late night radio freestyle. And the freaky porn lyrics of “Postbellum” are a little too tasteless and disjointed for the album. But with more exposure and a driven and affirmative lyrical strive, Mad Squirrel can reach a level of performance that will outshine anyone that collaborated with him on the album. Perhaps in the future, Mad Squirrel could lose the collaborators and demonstrate his truth and passion for hip-hop and its origin by going solo on the entire recording.
Mad Squirrel brought back memories with Pinko. His tape took me back to 1986 when I was a young hip-hop punk with too much love for Run-DMC or Slick Rick. And this little bit of nostalgia is the power behind this album as Mad Squirrel epitomizes the struggles of up-and-coming artists that love hip-hop and its art.
Side A
1. Triple A
2. Boast toast
3. Demographics
4. That girl from Santa Cruz
5. Regrets
6. Stylisist
Side B
1. Postbellum
2. Activist girl
3. From osama bin to the ladies
4. Nuts
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