KismetCover

 

Mr. MFN Xquire is quite the irregular artist. As much as he can be esoteric, he can be equally as raunchy and hood. Being such a conflicted being can be costly. Right after being signed with Universal, personal matters caused him even more issues. Much of his pain, sorrow, strength, and triumph are shown within Kismet, a piece of work that can be considered ignorant and intelligent in the same breath.

 

It must be known that the dichotomy that lives within Xquire starts off early on this album. As soon as “Cauldron” starts off, he drops lessons about understanding what life is about in the same breath as he notes receiving fellatio. A track like “Illest Niggaz Breathin’” can easily segue into a meaningful song referencing materialism, imprisonment, and the slave mentality (“Chain”). He even uses a posse track like “Tomorrow’s Gone” to drop gems like “don’t include me with New York” and “white man’s guilt is the black man’s poison”. It can be mentioned that he keeps it real with himself through his lyrics.

 

The thing about this album is that it is so insanely intelligent within its ignorance that it is hard to ignore its appeal. Take on the Adrian Marcel featured track “Hoes I Don’t Remember”, one of the oddest dedication songs ever recorded. As foolhardy as many would consider it, it is actually heartfelt. The same thing happened during tracks like “Cherry Raindrops” and “Orbz”. Within many of the tracks, the intelligence and ignorance are mixed together like a delectable dinner dish of gumbo.

 

The production, which is nice within its own right, wavers between soul stirring and minimalist “turn up music”. The sample flipping on “Paper Hearts” can easily give crate diggers something to smile about. Yet, a track like “…eXxx Studio” lets crunk samples and moody riffs take the ears over. He even flips a Curtis Mayfield sample on “Vanilla Rainbows” and notes that Mayfield produced it. Thus, the production easily matches, and at times encompasses, the lyrics.

 

Kismet may appear on many people’s end of the year lists and it is very deserving of that honor. It brings relentless originality, social commentary, and pure illness all packaged up together. However, that makes this album something of a niche listen. Some will be thrown off by the off-beat humor, sophomoric approaches, and carnal madness. Others will see him as a mad genius just getting started.