Outtasite - Careful What You Wish For Review
Posted by Fred Richani on 10.25.2008
Not your everyday rapper.....
Who is Outtasite? Better yet, what genre is this guy?
At first glance, Seattle, Washington’s Michael “Outtasite” Singleton doesn’t seem like a guy that can drop a few bars like it’s nothing—especially not over the ridiculous guitar riffs of the extremely talented Joel Davila. He also doesn’t seem like the type of guy that would roll with old-school rapper Sir-Mix-A-Lot.
After pursuing a career in hip-hop and doing a hard rock/rap version of a certain one-hit wonder’s smash hit “Baby Got Back”, Outtasite was taken under the wing of you guessed it, Sir-Mix-A-Lot. This guy isn’t all about big butts, though.
Since releasing his first album Right Side Down, Outtasite has stayed active on the underground scene with guitarist Joel Davila, putting out the hardest rap/rock hybrid music that’s NOT by Tech N9ne.
With Outtasite's second album Careful What You Wish For, the Seattle native looks to remind people and show new listeners that he can battle any emcee and rock harder than any band on the scene.
1."Pass It Around" - 3:30
2."Witness The Prosecution" - 2:57
3."Done Deal" - 3:25
4."Careful What You Wish For" (feat.Sir-Mix-A-Lot and Tomeka Williams) - 3:44
5."No Nevermind" - 3:13
6."Tequila Stepchild" (feat. Jane C.) - 3:17
7."Leaders/Lead Us" - 3:42
8."Get It On" (The Rush Project) - 3:10
9."The Wake Up" - 2:57
10."Anxiety" (Feat. Preston Creed) - 3:14
11."Come Unglued" - 3:44
12."F*** That" (Remix) - 3:36
The album starts out with the track “Pass It Around”, which evidently displays the hybrid nature of Outtasite's music—heavy guitar, thumping beats, and a crazy mix of rhymes. It is a fun track that one could compare to a Lil’ Wayne mixtape freestyle—as in the rhymes are good, but do not make too much sense.
This can be the case for many tracks on this album, if not the Achilles heel. There are times on tracks like the heavy metal, Powerman 5000-sounding “Tequila Stepchild” that just seems like Outtasite and guest vocalist Jane C. recorded the song while under the influence of some type of drug or narcotic.
One-hit wonder Sir-Mix-A-Lot makes an unmemorable appearance on “Careful What You Wish For”, not adding much to the smooth guitar riffs of Joel Davila. Luckily, the guitarist saves this song and makes you wonder how the hell is he not playing on a famous rock band right now.
There is one track on the album that deals with serious subject matter that includes the economy, government, and society as a whole—aptly titled “Lead/Lead Us”. Inner dissolution, no clout towards trust. Better make a move before they out-source us. A line like that shows that the Seattle emcee can focus and deliver a serious, thought-provoking song on this album that is filled with the total opposite of that content. "No Nevermind", "Done Deal", and "F*** That" are serviceable, but "Come Unglued" is just plain skip-able.
Despite lacking fluidity or much serious subject matter (that makes sense anyway), Careful What You Wish For is instrumentally, a very good album. Props can go to guitarist Joel Davila and yes, even Sir-Mix-A-Lot for helping Outtasite produce this album. If you can overlook some of the lyrics and enjoy the musical content, then this is an album you might have wished for (pun intended).
The 411: Careful What You Wish For may not reinvent the wheel in the alternative rap genre, but Outtasite does provide hot beats to bump and rock out to. If you can appreciate the banging instrumentals, then after a few spins—this album might just grow on you.
