reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Rhymefest - Mark Ronson Presents Rhymefest: Man In The Mirror

“I’m the number one Michael Jackson fan!  Ain’t no fan bigger than me, cause ain’t no fan doing what I’m doing!”  Rhymfest is not fucking around when he says this during his blatant unauthorized collaboration with the King of Pop.  Part parody, part ultimate tribute album, Rhymefest, the south side Chicago MC who famously crushed Eminem in a freestyle battle, brings something back to hip hop that is surely missed over the last decade; namely humor, sincerity, and creativity.  Sampling not just Jackson’s monster hits (“Dancin’ Machine” and “Man In The Mirror”) but most of his lesser known Jackson 5 B-sides (“Never Can Say Goodbye,” “Break Of Dawn”), Rhymefest reminds you just how little Michael began his reign as the prince of Motown before he became the poster child for celebrity pedophilia and now the court jester for the Sultan of Bahrain.  The result is a resuscitation of both the career of pop music’s most eccentric (translation: weird as fuck) icon and the genre of hip-hop that’s been more bloated and corrupt than professional boxing.  This is the best “work” Jackson has done this decade and the best hip hop album in the last 12 months.  Yet, it’s the MC’s lyrical dexterity that deserves a tribute—with baritone vocals akin to Biggie’s—along with his positive message about black culture and hip hop’s faults: the ringtones, the violence, the gluttony, and plain old repetitiveness.  What is unique is Rhymefest’s and producer Mark Ronson’s reliance on that once forgotten hip hop staple: the skit.  Remember those?  The duo sample actual interview clips to create conversations between Rhymefest and his “mentor.”  The two discuss black pride (with Michael encouraging Rhyme to embrace his roots), staying loyal to your girl (Michael admits to hitting it with the groupies behind Lisa Marie’s back), and being man enough to admit you cut one (Michael drops a bomb in front of Rhyme but is too embarrassed to cop to it).  The sincerity of Rhymefest’s love of Jackson remains, even past the skits and satire of his freakiness, when the two duet on the title track.  “Man In The Mirror” lets Rhymefest rap about his own self doubt (“I used to feel God don’t love me) along with a promise to change himself and the black community.  In the most unironic move on the album, Rhymefest steps aside to give Jackson the album’s last words; driving his famous message home on one of pop’s greatest uplifting tracks.  A rare example of an MC permitting the artist he samples to retain the original lyrics.  Nas once declared “hip hop was dead.”  Who knew that Michael Jackson could revive it?