Tr3CooH

The distinction between indelible hip-hop and the dismissible kind is so narrow that artists can straddle the line without realizing it — which pretty much tells the story of Tr3CooH's latest. He's got a strong voice — gritty, light and nimble — but his prose can be inconsistent even when...

By Michael Roberts

October 8, 2009

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The distinction between indelible hip-hop and the dismissible kind is so narrow that artists can straddle the line without realizing it — which pretty much tells the story of Tr3CooH's latest. He's got a strong voice — gritty, light and nimble — but his prose can be inconsistent even when he's got some good ideas, as on the concluding combo, "Suicide Note/Life Is a Movie." The first half of the opus starts out tough but grows increasingly banal by the time it segues into "Movie," which consists of 333 film titles crammed together, sometimes cleverly ("They all wearin' Full Metal Jackets"), too often not ("Guess what, I'm a Poetic Justice/I'm Gonna Get You, Sucka"). The result is an album that's mad one minute, maddening the next.

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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