The so-called Mudkids certainly aren’t dirty or gritty, even though with a 4trackmind you might expect something that sounds rougher than an unreleased Wu-Tang Clan demo. Never that. What the rapper cHoc MC and partner/producer El-Mass put together will not leave washboard mudstains on the ride of your mind; rather, they will refresh you and leave you clean like a six dollar car wash.
If I had to make a choice between hearing Puff Daddy  sing R.E.M. and cHoc from the Mudkids do his best impression of Freestyle Fellowship’s “Park Bench People”, I’d take the latter - easily. The heavy bass on “Fool” holds down the heavy topic - true love with a love who ain’t actin true.

Mudkids also put a little spirituality into the mix. It won’t really throw you off at all. They still cuss and fuss like every other rapper, they just want you to know that “killin and illin is no way to accomplish your dreams” as the rap on “Serpents Inna Mi Garden” illustrates; an excellent collaboration with MC’s Kontent and Arrange.

This crew’s most appealing song is undoubtedly “Water to Earth (H2O)” as a variety of aquatic, naval, oceanic and liquid rhymes are flipped that would make even Ras Kass catch feelings about getting wet. Not just knee deep, this is 20,000 leagues of bass and rhyme below most up and coming crews in hip-hop.

I understand a healthy skepticism in today’s hip-hop: how many new artists can really be dope when there are so many new rap crews and so many releases, both indie and major? But don’t be afraid to get down and dirty with the Mudkids.