Chicagoan speed-rap phenomenon Twista – formerly known as Tung Twista, clue enough to his vowel-mangling, consonant-hammering, Guinness Book-bothering style – has sat discontentedly on the fringes of mass acceptance for 13 long years.
His debut album, "Runnin' Off At Da Mouth", was the first LP released by the now-defunct Loud imprint, who would later find fame with an unruly mob of Staten Island-based emcees called the Wu-Tang Clan. Twista dropped the Tung, and Loud dropped Twista; he re-signed to Atlantic subsidiary Big Beat and released three albums in the latter half of the '90s, all to similarly specialist levels of acclaim and sales.
Then something weird happened. People started talking about Twista like he was going to become the next big thing in rap. Damon Dash openly coveted him, acting like Roman Abramovich hunting a new Chelsea manager, planting word in the media that he wanted Twista to sign to Roc-A-Fella. Puffy was sniffing around too. But Atlantic managed to hang on to their underachieving talent, and gave him an almost unprecedented five years' grace to fashion, re-fashion and deliver this magnum opus.
All that experience, all those near-hook-ups, and all Twista's still very much evident self-belief have been condensed into this album, a densely packed thrill ride with as much risk in it for all concerned as that title applies. But Twista knows what he's doing; parlaying Dash's interest into getting Kanye West to build him some of his superb, soul-mangling beats, ensuring Jazzie Pha and R Kelly drop in to supplement the intuitive production of core collaborator Toxic… it's little wonder "Kamikaze" has proved his vindication.
"Slow Jamz" you probably know already, the US chart-topper and UK top 3 hit that namechecks the songs you're supposed to play when you're getting intimate with your 'significant other'. It's not a typical moment here sonically, but in its mix of libido, verbal dexterity and wit (the lines "got a light-skinned friend looks like Michael Jackson/got a dark-skinned friend looks like Michael Jackson" get better the more you hear them) it's a useful starting point. "Sunshine", a reworking of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" featuring Anthony Hamilton, and the R Kelly-helmed "So Sexy" are surely future hits, while "Kill Us All" and "Badunkadunk" show that, even rapping at the speed of sound, Twista can still keep the hardcore happy.
It's overlong, like almost every rap album today, and it's not the sort of place to come expecting erudition or insight. But for one singular rapper unwilling and unafraid to stick to his guns, it's a deeply satisfying record.
