Debuting in 1999, courtesy of Rawkus’ projects Soundbombing 2 and alongside Eminem on DJ Spinna’s Heavy Beats compilation, Thirstin Howl III quickly made a name for himself, and followed these appearances with two do-it-yourself discs, Skillionaire and Skillosopher. These CD’s introduced the underground hip-hop world to a cartoon character emcee obsessed with Polo gear, who repped the Lo-Lifes, a crew of forty-or-more thieves who’s main ambitions lied in rhyming and stealing. These discs were packed with freestyles and homemade songs, mostly sewn together using popular beats and whatever production tools were accessable. The only problem with these CD’s was that they were cheaply put together, and lacked professionalism in the music’s production. By the time the second disc, Skillosopher dropped, the beat-stealing went over with it’s audience about as well as a million man rush did with Macy’s personel. Nevertheless, this was incredibly original, humorous, homemade hip-hop defined, soaked with the authenticity of the Brownsville slums.

This year, Thirsty Greedy has taken his career a bit more seriously, with his official debut album, Serial Skiller – a sixteen track album sporting original production, and Psycho inspired skits, connecting it all together. This is Thirstin’s best release, one that gives listeners a better idea of what his music is all about. The single, “Dreams Of Fuckin’ A Cartoon Bitch”, laced with dark, heavy pianos is probably the perfect introduction into Thirstin’s animated subverse. Here, his truly warped mind fantasizes about getting nasty with everyone from Catwoman (“a freak, you can tell by her outfit / one finger, two fingers, three in her meow mix”) to Little Mermaid (“Her bra made of shells / I know the pussy good, but I ain’t trustin’ the smell!”). Meanwhile, on tracks like “The Cards Life Dealt Me” and “I Bust The Shots That Stop The Party”, Thirstin fires angst filled humor over beats that are so raw that RZA should be knocking on his door trying to employ them. Other incredibly raw anthems, such as “Brownsville Bullet Goldcard Membership 2002″  and “The Streets Don’t Listen” are so ghetto that they with further suburbanites fascination with Thirstin Howl and his Spit Squadron. And when the tempos are turned even higher on wackier tracks like “Walk The Walk, Spit The Spit”, and wifey Unique London’s “Who This British Bitch Is?” , the Serial Skiller’s rollar coaster ride becomes even more unpredictable, as he (and Unique London, respectively) deliver forever quotable punch-rhymes over beats at neck-protecting speeds and 80Â’s b-boy style.

While it’s a blessing that Thirstin has finally welcomed us to Brooklyn with his new, originally produced opus, this album will obviously be a little too raw for some heads, especially the Spanish impaired (as he weaves in and out of his cultural background, at times). Nevertheless, while Thirstin Howl III is still an unsigned hype with nowhere else to go but the independent route, he has an incredible personality, mysticism, and star-power about him that shines through his records, and it’s only a matter of time before the major labels realize this and start a bidding war over the Skillionaire. All it would take at this point would be for some big name influential DJ from New York to embrace one of his records, and the road to Rap City wouldn’t be far behind.