Matt Maddox, formerly of the Guerrilla War Tactix group which consisted of Cruz DurrtyJada (from Sweden) and Chinch 33 (from Germany), is an MC in all sense of the word, and his latest project Righteous Fury is a shining example of this truth. At 19 tracks long, Maddox’s Righteous Fury comes with powerful production and cuts from a multitude of producers. All of them are different, yet their styles of production complement each other quite cohesively.
But let’s not forget the MC who is at the heart of this project, Matt Maddox. When listening to Maddox don’t be surprised by your feelings of nostalgia. Instead of pinpointing whether he sounds like “this” artist or “that” artist, you have to understand that your mind is actually hearkening back to the earlier days of hip hop that boasted raw lyricism over everything else. Maddox has an energetic and raspy cadence that hasn’t been heard in quite some time and Righteous Fury requires multiple listens in order for one to fully take in all that Maddox is spitting, especially with his speed of delivery.
Maddox knows his position in the game and isn’t afraid to let others know. With lines like: “a generation of f***ott rappers like Lil’ B” on the track “Murder Weapons”, and “You’re a studio gangster, Facebook thug, tough when you tweet” on the track “Spider Man”. And he even provides commentary on his mental condition with the line: “They think I’m really mentally challenged. But I just took more LSD than ecstasy, I’m chemically imbalanced.”
Righteous Fury is a strong release from Matt Maddox and I can easily see him leaving a memorable mark in the world of hip hop if he keeps up his work ethic. I’ll be coming back to this project for more listens and I am sure others will do the same. If you miss that raw, old-school hip hop sound I strongly recommend you give this 19-track project a listen. It’ll leave you more than satisfied.
Righteous Fury will be released on February 25 and you can pre-order and download it HERE through iTunes courtesy of Redphone Records and Seven 13 Music. And you can follow Matt Maddox HERE on Twitter.
Below you can watch the music videos for the songs “BARbarians” and “No Country For Old Men” from the album.