Discovered by Organized Konfusion during hip-hop’s independent boom, Mr. Complex still remains one of the most underrated and misunderstood emcees in his class. He’s caught the attention of the indy rap audience with a consistent string of 12″ singles, not to mention as a card carrying member of the (defunct?) NYC unsigned hype supergroup, Polyrhythm Addicts.

     While some may see him as a mush-mouthed lyricist, getting caught up in his own train of thought, a closer listen will reveal his raps to be incredibly well thought out and subtley clever in both delivery and content. As on “Rhapsody” (which could easily be the next opener for BET’s Rap City), works as the album’s flagship song, Complex describes a metropolis (say NYC), cleverly inserting emcee names as street corners and local spots. “Everybody Everywhere” is another walk through that same city, as Complex realize that just about everybody everwhere is rhyming, (with well-timed inserts from Punch & Words and Jean Grae. His delightful sense of humor plugs itself into his rhymes, as well as into his Adam Sandler like skits that bridge the album together.

      Complex’s taste in beats can’t be denied, as the vibey goodness of  “Desire” makes for sunshine on a rainy day, or on DJ Spinna’s hollow ping pong match that underscores “Underground Up”. Pretty much all of the beats on this album help carry Complex’s unorthodox style into acceptability, making this album fit somewhere in between Aceyalone and Pharaohe Monch. Still, while at times he does get too complex, with stream-of-consciousness rhymes that build off of each sentence like a maze of weblinks, he still delivers a likable album with Hold This Down. While his flow may be somewhat ahead of it’s time, or too advanced for some listeners, like he says on track # 10, people don t know how nice he is.