Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
In hip-hop, Soce the Elemental Wizard is as self-aware as it gets. Not that you could accuse the man of any less. His new album, the inspiringly-titled “Master of Fine Arts,” was released this week, and there’s a launch party Saturday night at the Bowery Poetry Club. (Tickets are $10, which includes a CD, so it’s basically like getting a Saturday night concert for free.)
Soce’s real name is Andrew Singer, and he has a day job as a computer guy on Wall Street. If you think that disqualifies him from hip-hop greatness, you’re so misled — nerd-rap is the very basis of his raison d’etre. His album begins with the warning “I was a renegade/until I started drinking my lemonade/now I’m better-paid” — and the album’s first video, “They Call Me,” starts out with a 7-year-old Soce getting beaten up in a schoolyard, and lays heavy claims, like that he’s got “an edge like matzoh and cheese.”
He’s not afraid to put himself on the line (and, yes, his rhymes are totally {and intentionally} laughable), but Soce also keeps it real — his jams are legitimate hip-hop, his wordplay as smart as it is silly, and his beats are quality, radio-friendly music. There’s the Jewish thing, of course, and the gay thing, but Soce is refreshingly creative in his lyrics. He’s just as likely to rhyme about Dungeons & Dragons as he is about the dude he’s crushing on. Soce keeps it good-natured but chill, and is likely to pull out the crowd of equally-attractive young Jews, so you should probably get there early. And make sure there’s plenty of room around you to dance.
