T-Kash Turf War Syndrome

• Words: Eric K. Arnold
• Label: Guerilla Funk
• XLR8R Rating: /10

The album's title sounds like something Three 6 Mafia might release, yet its content is surprisingly thought-provoking. Dispensing with most, if not all, of the clichés of gangsta or turf rap, T-Kash-a former Coup member and current protégé of Paris-absolutely flips the script with one of the hardest-hitting political rap albums ever to come from the West Coast. Whether it's jacking Nate Dogg hooks and trading misogyny for cheery-eyed rebellion, reworking "Shook Ones" as a revolutionary anthem, explaining "How to Get Ass(assinated)," or breaking down the socioeconomics behind "a psychological Hurricane Katrina," T-Kash maintains both a street-level perspective and a conscious mentality, and does both with lyrical finesse.