by: Joe Siess
Artist: Edweird
Album: C.H.U.D. Complex
Label: None
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Edweird not only has a wicked, ruthless, machine gun flow that would blow the pants off any rap/hip hop aficionado, but his witty lyricism and dark humor bring a whole new game to the scene. His bizarre lyrics and manic cadence combine to form a scalding front of cold ass Canadian air pushing mercilessly South with a shameless vengeance. Yes.
“Nothing short of Armageddon can excite me now,” Edweird raps on the fifth track, OddGod (produced by Lord Vulture,) on his newest EP entitled ‘C.H.U.D. Complex.’ OddGod just so happens to be my favorite track on the EP, and his subtle nod to Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction sent a lovely flicker up my spine.
Edweird’s EP as a whole is difficult to compare to anything else. It’s provocative. It’s smart. It’s political. It’s so many things and some, but I’m drawing blanks trying to compare him to other artists… Maybe it’s just better left unsaid. Edweird is… weird. In a good way of course. Yes.
The song Brain Washington (produced by WLMG), gives a shout out to Black Lives Matter, and sends a scorching cascade of feces south of the border in his calling out of Washington’s ineptitude, and America’s cultural degeneration. It’s always fun to hear Canadian rappers talk trash on the problems afflicting their doomed and backwards brothers and sisters south of their border ho ho.
After giving the EP a solid listen I hopped on YouTube and found Edweird’s channel. One video in particular, entitled Sacred Nothing is manic and politically charged, and I obviously love the Hunter S. Thompson overture at the beginning. Edweird even tips his lyrical hat to George Orwell when he raps, “It’s 84 and the Farm at the same time.” Nicely done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xHAHyA6N9U
I also really enjoyed listening to some of Edweird’s older albums, specifically tracks three and four on everybody Poops by Edweird, featuring Red-Eye Ray and Krash respectively. Good stuff.
It goes without saying, Edweird is brilliant. He’s a smart lyricist, and his flow is savage, and his literary and political undertones create a kind of mystique that I feel the rap genre could use a lot more of.
I really enjoyed reviewing Edweird’s newest EP C.H.U.D. Complex, as well as his other stuff. If you are a rap person I would suggest getting a solid dose of this guy from the Frozen North. The only other Canadian rapper I know, and who I really like is K’naan. I suppose the only parallel I can draw between K’naan and Edweird is that both rappers are poetic and literary, which makes for a much more intense listening experience.