Review Summary: If you were to listen to “Relapse” and then “King of Pain” right after, “King of Pain” would look like “The Marshall Mathers LP”.
Shane Bunting, or Madchild, at first glance, is your average run-of-the-mill, drug addicted, gang banging, white rapper. But how accurate is that, you ask? Somewhat accurate. As a group member from the Hip-Hop groups, Swollen Members and Rock Steady Crew, Madchild has made a name for himself. He is probably mostly known for being banned from America, as the title of his second EP states. Most people that don’t know the history of Madchild most likely think he’s banned because of something he did. They probably think he’s some badass dude. The real reason he’s banned is because he was accused of being a member of the biker gang, the Hells Angels, while traveling through an airport. Though he does look like he’d be a member of the Hells Angels, he is not a member. From the research that I’ve done, he is not a member of any gangs. So the gang banging part of Madchild is inaccurate. How about the drug addict stereotype? Yes, in fact he is. Well, used to be. In his new EP “King of Pain”, he states that he quit doing drugs, in the song “Drugs in my Pocket”. Now, is Madchild your average run-of-the-mill rapper? Well hopefully this review will help you decide.
This EP “King of Pain” is one big mess of rhymes and beats. That’s the problem I encounter with albums without a major concept to them. Albums that have no big concept to them always feel very unfinished and bare, and any album in this situation is in contention for a bad rating. Unless, the band or artist does other things really good to bring the rating back up, and Madchild does that. Madchild uses incredibly thought out and creative punch lines to make his fans listen to that song again. That element is Madchilds best aspect in all of his works. That’s what makes Madchild. One of his most memorable lines that he spits is in the song “Drugs in My Pockets”;
“I keep a strap tucked, at least a sharp blade, cause kids be playing more games than an arcade,
And I am not afraid, I will shoot you dead, there’s more snakes in this club than Medusa’s head.”
He may be a middle-aged man, but his lyrics are very immature. His lyrics are very silly and whimsical, but that’s not to say there bad. He succeeds at having his lyrics being funny, especially in the song “Dungeon Dragon” where he does a remix of the chorus to Nikki Minaj and Eminem’s song. But Madchild does show some signs of maturity, a good example of this is on the song “Gremlin”;
“I'm sending out my surrogates, so I can stay home, write rhymes and keep flourishin',
Hands dirty, stand sturdy with assertiveness, every word I mutter is a murderous advertisement”
On this album, they’re isn’t as many cringe worthy lines as there are in some of his previous albums with his group Swollen Members. The topics for the songs on this EP range from drugs, being banned from America and the egotistical songs. When you look at the songs that consist on this album, compared to the songs on his newest album with the Swollen Members, you can tell he has matured at least a little in the short time after making this EP. For being a very underground artist, even on Sputnik, he has great production. The beats are all crystal clear and just like his lyrics, the beats are very fun and silly, which is a good thing if your in a good and cheerful mood.
If his lyrics weren’t so offensive to some groups of people, then I could see Madchild being mainstream. The beats and some of the lyrics seem a little 2009, Eminem influenced. The year that he made “Relapse“. But don’t let that statement turn you off, though. If you were to listen to “Relapse” and then “King of Pain” right after, “King of Pain” would look like “The Marshall Mathers LP”.
