The Best Music You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of - Watsky: Cardboard Castles

George Watsky is one of the worlds’ fastest rappers. For years he was a spoken word artist and slam poet, and more recently has gained acclaim for his speed-rapping and witty YouTube videos. The most recent of his albums, “Cardboard Castles”, despite its name, is his most mature album yet.

In the past he’s seemed to rely more on speed than lyrics to get his point across. While this album has its share of fast wordplay, this album talks more about his experience as a modern young man. It’s interesting to see a rapper talk about growing up in a cul-de-sac rather than a ghetto, going to college rather than selling drugs, and boasting about things other that the size of his stacks (or other things, if you catch my drift). He’s relatable, which is refreshing in an era of outsized hip-hop excess.

This album has two types of songs: more melodic, inspirational songs and faster, more hard-driving tunes. These two styles sometimes overlap, but the distinction is fairly easy to make. Let’s look at two tracks in each style.

In the melodic/inspirational category, first look at “Strong As An Oak”. He talks about getting his debit card declined at a burger joint, and ties it into philosophical musings of not being too unhappy with where you are. His “whip” is a ‘94 Camry, and he’s proud of it.

Next in that category is “Hey, A**hole”, a collaboration with British alt-pop chanteuse Kate Nash, is a self-reminder that while your life may seem like it’s going nowhere, it’s actually pretty good if you appreciate the little things.

Let’s now look the hard-driving, faster songs. “Moral of the Story” is a call to arms for artists, rappers, and basically everyone. “The moral of the story is/work til your arms fall off/your abs get hard and your bones turn soft/just work til your hands go numb/and they cramp and the fans in the stands go dumb”.

“Ugly Faces” turns a parent’s admonition into a speed-rap about being weird and having lots of fun. Sounds like my kind of party. Other standouts include “Kill a Hipster” and “Fireworks”. Listen to the lyrics the first time you hear this album, and dance like a maniac on all subsequent listens.