Love Life by Fat Tony

I got to check out a local underground hip-hop artist Fat Tony this past Sunday and was pretty impressed by his set. I spoke with a member of his "entourage" briefly after their set and got loaded up on a couple good local rap albums. First off, Fat Tony isn't fat, and second, I think he actually did take his name from The Simpsons. So, it already seemed to make a lot of sense to me that this would be a good album. What I like most about Fat Tony is that he hasn't gotten tangled up in that mess of a hip-hop genre called Southern Rap (okay, by that I mean I like to see someone from Houston doing something different). Fat Tony has got some good beats and while his lyrical talent isn't flawless, I think a bit more time and experience is going to really polish him off as an artist. Personally, I've always enjoyed hip-hop artists who make use of pop/cultural references in their music and Fat Tony really shines on tracks like "Much Accomplished" (also available on his MySpace page). I'll be checking out whatever he continues to release because this guy has got a chance with a little more time and a lot of luck.

RATING: 64%