Way before Eminem re-opened the doors for melanin-deficient emcees, and back when The Source was still readable, a grimey white gravedigga with toothpicks sticking out of his mouth graced the now irrelevant Sure-Shot Singles section of the magazine for his Necro produced debut single “Agent Orange” (with the incredibly dope “Radiohead” on the flip), which surfaced via Bobbito’s now defunct Fondle Em imprint. Later down the line, Eminem was the next milkman to grace the pages of the magazine in its Unsigned Hype section - and shortly after, the beef between the two began. Further beef was brewed after Cage decided to bounce from being Necro’s understudy, to instead being taken under the wing of the High & Mighty, shortly thereafter forming the Smut Peddlers trio, and further solidifying his cult fanbase with Porn Again. And most recently, with the emergence of both Eastern Conference and Def Jux  camps over the last few years, and the tightening of the intersecting MHz (MegaHertz) and Weathermen crews, Cage has become one of the most popular artists defining hip-hop’s evolving underground movement, finally inviting us to experience his Movies For The Blind.

Looking back, the early beef between Eminem and Cage seems silly now, as the two have each carved individual identities and styles for themselves; as about the only similarities you’ll find these days are skin-tone and a love for shock value. Cage uses Movies For The Blind to further animate his character, with a sick and twisted sense of humor - one that isn’t as commercially centered as Em’s, nor one that is as inherently evil as Necro’s, but one that is all his own. He excels in witty battle raps, inserting plenty of social commentary and character development into each line, and when the production is as top-notch as it is here, sometimes that’s all we need. He comes out with fists-a-flyin’ on the lead single “Escape To ’88″, as Mighty Mi ironically cuts up Eminem’s “Who is this, Cage?” sample from the “Ken Kaniff” skit, with Cage throwing it right back at Em with a few well timed pot shots. Rush chimes in on it’s b-side “(Down) The Left Hand Path”, with a Dr. Dre-esque mischievousness to it, while hot MHz up & comer Camu Tao delivers the equally dope “Too Much”, as Cage takes off on both on a shit-talking marathon.

But just as he’s an ace at keeping our attention through the freestyle rhymes, he does just as well with the conceptual tracks. “In Stoney Lodge” is lots of fun, as Cage plays One Flew Over The Cukoo’s Nest to the hilt, with J-Zone’s track capturing the idea flawlessly. Same goes the Mighty Mi assisted, “The Soundtrack”, where Cage fantasizes about killing his stepfather, assumingly after listening to too much Schooly D and N.W.A. This also leads into the self-examination “Among The Sleep”, were Cage and RJD2′s moods play off each other nicely. And who can forget last year’s 12″ favorite “A Suicidal Failure”, in which Cage pokes fun at 1-800-Suicide callers: “It’s just a girl, it’s just a world; it’s just a life; it’s just a rusty Rambo knife!”

While the album is incredibly consistent, but the crown jewel is still the classic “Agent Orange”, starring the bastard son of Stanley Kubrick; the kid from The Shining all growsed up. Necro flips the illest “Clockwork Orange” sample while Cage attempts to “fuck ya moms backwards” and “start buggin’ like an insect and lay larva in ya ear”, topped off with classic cut-ups of the timeless Lone Wolf & Cub / GZA sample “people said his brain was infected by devils”. Maybe it’s because it was a record that helped define the indy movement, but if none of the other songs made their mark on this album (read: unlikely), Cage can at least go to sleep at night knowing that he has one classic track under his belt.

The album isn’t without its faults though - two joints in particular (“Too Much” and “CK Won”) carry hooks as repetitive as circles that simply drill themselves into the ground, but regardless neither is awful. And every once in a while, Cage will drop a corny line for the sake of a rhyme (“You want to shoot a video? Bring a pistol to Blockbuster / Wanna step to Weathermen cause your all cock-suckers!” Boooooo.), but for the most part the complaints are few and far in between - that is unless you aren’t into that whole crazy, shock value thing.

The early buzz is that this is the tightest Eastern Conference release since High & Mighty’s E.C blueprint, Home Field Advantage, but that’s really just a matter of opinion. However, it does further solidify the label’s place on the map, showing a strong consistency with each consecutive release. Mighty Mi has shown some his best beats yet on this release, and his team of beatmakers has brought together another fine addition to the E.C. catalog.