Hell's Winter

There's a fine line for Cage coming off as a whiny emo rapper and an actual skilled conscious rapper. This is where the line is perfect. Obviously backed by awesome production (El-P, Blockhead, DJ Shadow, etc.) everything works here for Cage. However... this could be better for what it is. There's some small things lacking here that stop this from being a classic album. As much as I think Cage is a great technical rapper, sometimes I lose interest or he comes off generic. All things considered, ... read more

A challenging listen with some harrowing content and some abrasive production. Some memorable tracks, especially the more personal ones. I didn't find that all of this had that much replay value though, once the initial shock value had been spent.

The biggest thing holding this back in the modern era is that Cage's remaster features an old muffled sounding microphone on EVERY VOCAL on this thing on any streaming service.

If you can find an uncompressed version where it sounds like they all used a real microphone this thing is incredible. Hell's Winter is one of the best instrumentals of all time.

I found an original def jux era copy at McKay's and it was an instant cop simply off the fact you can tell he botched the ... read more

While some write off Cage as someone trying to ride the coattails of someone like Eminem (even though Eminem basically stole Cage's whole style), Cage rides that thin line between uncomfortable and edgy quite well, and way better than Eminem ever did. Tracks like "Too Heavy For Cherubs" and "Stripes" take on a whole different meaning when you learn that these are things that happened to him (or are inspired by his less-than-stellar upbringing), and the sociopolitical ... read more