Deuce Dirty

God Made Dirt (Endless Nights Inc.)

Noble House 60 W. Streetsboro Rd., Hudson 330-655-9550. Hours: lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner, 5 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
If Nelly spent as much time in lockdown as he has on top of the charts, he might sound something like Deuce Dirty. Like St. Louis's finest, Deuce knows his way around a harmony, and he can sing like a ghetto Soulchild.

Unlike Nelly, though, Deuce brings a real thug presence to the mic. "Fuck the DEA, FBI, and every otha faggot ass law enforcement agency takin' food out my kids' mouths -- See you in hell," the burly rapper writes in the liner notes of God Made Dirt, which also features a rather unsettling photo of Dirty jamming a pistol into his mouth.

Just as severe is Dirty's diction. "A glutton for punishment/Addicted to pain like meth/And that's crystal/ Grew up on Rose, St. Ides, and Cisco/ Moved up to fifths of liquor/No wonder I'm a fuckin' sicko," Dirty fumes on "Sleep With My . . . (The AK's Anthem)." Tempering all the badass braggadocio with the sentimental, Santana-esque "Home" and a pair of anthemic rap-rock numbers with power chords almost as beefy as Dirty's midsection, this disc is equally catchy and caustic.

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