As with previous efforts, Cancer for Cure pushes the sonic envelope of hip-hop beyond its contemporaries from the very start.
When we look back on the hip-hop of early C21, Cancer4Cure will stand tall above the floodwaters of nostalgia. El-P is one of the few great artists still inhabiting the form.
Cancer For Cure is a triumph of imagination and intelligence in service of a pervasive sense of personal and political unease.
El-P's always been ahead of the curve but Cancer for Cure isn't valuable for its prescience so much as its currency of the now and the way it unites rap head nostalgia for the future beats of the past with the beats of the present.
The textures and tones are distinctly different from past releases, but it's unimaginable that it could be made by anyone else.
Cancer 4 Cure grounds hip hop, taking it back to when it was seen as the new punk rock.
This is a high point in his already illustrious career; a labyrinthine and ultramodern take on hip-hop that will likely age like a Cabernet.
The true brilliance of Cancer For Cure is its refusal to find common ground, to come to the middle and meet anyone.
Tthe music is certainly some of El’s most engaging yet, and should possess real lasting power.
For all its darkness, paranoia and rage, Cancer For Cure emerges as one of the year's most endlessly re-playable records.
Cancer 4 Cure is as hard and vital as anything El-P has ever released, and that's no light praise.
Cancer For Cure is a dependably bold, powerful statement, perhaps not quite as masterful as its predecessors, but still overflowing with ideas and innovation.
Cancer4Cure is about hip-hop like Glengarry Glen Ross was about sales, but these great works transcend their industries, offering solace and inspiration to anyone who would prefer a satisfied mind over a Cadillac Eldorado, or in current terms, an Escalade.
The roads in his mind are curling back onto themselves like a mobius strip and more than ever, most of the verses on Cancer 4 Cure are infinite loops, cannibalizing his own words over and over.
Cancer For Cure is a shirked, claustrophobic, paranoid clutter of rhyming conspiracy theories.
El-P’s blitzkrieging fourth record is a paranoid reality show – and that’s its appeal.
Cancer for Cure stuns by featuring some of the most energetic tracks El-P has ever put his name to.
Cac Naofa, téann sé seo crua! [Holy shit, this goes hard!]
El-P is most well known as one half of the Hip-Hop duo Run The Jewels, releasing 4 studio albums (3 solo, 1 collab) before forming RTJ.
Cancer 4 Cure is dedicated to Camu Tao, a rapper who was also a close friend of El-P who died of lung cancer back in 2008, aged 30.
The production on C4C is some of the most savage and energetic I've heard as far as Hip-Hop goes, especially for something released in 2012.
It's got hard ... read more
If i would’ve reviewed this a couple of years ago, i probably would’ve given it a score of around 90. It wore of me quite a bit, for some reason it can’t hold my attention, the same way it used to anymore. At some points of the project the instrumentals feel very dated, not nearly as impactful as they should be. I still love a lot of the tracks on here and I don’t dislike any of them. It’s just that a lot of them lost their charm on me. I’d say this is still ... read more
Oop, I found the last one!
El-P remains lyrically fresh, but the production isn't up to par with some of his other work, and doesn't have me in love on every listen. Nonetheless, Cancer 4 Cure is a very enjoyable hip hop record, and shouldn't be skipped over when talking about El-P's career. Really good stuff.
While Cancer for Cure has all of the elements of the previous album, it does feel like leftovers or less well produced songs anyway. Still a very good project and has some bangers.
A decent album with some hits but also some misses that are just too bland to be memorable. Despite that, El-P exhibits splendid production capabilities across the tracks.
1 | Request Denied 4:32 | 87 |
2 | The Full Retard 3:39 | 96 |
3 | Works Every Time 3:35 feat. Paul Banks | 77 |
4 | Drones Over BKLYN 5:49 | 82 |
5 | Oh Hail No 3:41 | 90 |
6 | Tougher Colder Killer 3:39 feat. Killer Mike, Despot | 76 |
7 | True Story 3:14 | 80 |
8 | The Jig Is Up 3:18 | 59 |
9 | Sign Here 2:51 | 58 |
10 | For My Upstairs Neighbor (Mums the Word) 3:15 | 78 |
11 | Stay Down 3:10 feat. Nick Diamonds | 76 |
12 | $4 Vic / Nothing But You + Me (FTL) 8:23 | 77 |
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#20 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#22 | / | Treble |
#25 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#26 | / | Pazz & Jop |