Witchdoctor Diary of an American Witchdoctor

• Words: Jesse Serwer
• Label: Williams Street-Adult Swim
• XLR8R Rating: 9/10

EJ the Witchdoctor may just be the most obscure member of Atlanta’s Dungeon Family collective but on Diary of an American Witchdoctor, he makes a strong case for inclusion in the same category as Andre 3000 and Cee-Lo. Like those two, Witchdoctor combines aspects of singing and rapping into his delivery, imbuing tracks with such divergent themes as “Put A Spell on Them Hoes” and “Prayer Call” with equal solemnity. Equally impressive is the production; with only one Organized Noise production to his credit, a cast of unknown stand-ins delivers beats that evoke the haunting and enigmatic feel of classic ’90s Dungeon Fam projects like OutKast’s ATL-iens. Call it gangsta gospel rap.