Harlem-based rapper Immortal Technique has always bucked the system - he’s turned down record contracts to have complete control of his musical output; he’s fearlessly recorded overtly political tracks “Bin Laden” and “Impeach the President” in a paranoid, post 9-11 world; and he’s released an almost 10-minute-long, gritty, urban rise-and-fall narrative set to a Beethoven piano riff (the epic “Dance With the Devil”).

On his new record, The 3RD World, he returns with his signature blend of sociopolitical fire-branded lyrics and stripped-down beats.  DJ Green Lantern adds some production flair not found on Revolutionary Vols. 1 and 2, but his work is never ostentatious, letting Immortal’s words remain front and center.

“Locked and loaded / muthafucka, you should know it” is how he finishes “Death March,” the first track, inciting all the revolutionaries to buck the system with him or die in lockstep.  And for the next fifteen songs, he proceeds to spit hollow-point rhymes that enter your skull innocuously but leave gaping exit wounds as your grey matter breaks them down.

They are ruthless in the images they paint, unrelenting in the subject matter they touch upon.  Other rappers put on a persona, try to sound angry.  This man has real baggage. Not a Louis Vuitton matching set; this is the beat-up leather trunk that brings three generations into America, looking for opportunity, only to find exploitation.  This man sounds straight pissed.

In his gruff, Latin twang, he can indict capitalism (“fuck your private jet, nigga / we shootin, that shit down), invoke the Bible, (I play the role of Abraham / idols get ripped down), and threaten the establishment with his own personal global warming (melt the ice caps / and make all of this shit brown) - all in one verse.

Many rappers talk about dropping knowledge, but how many are actually able to do it?  Only a few come to mind; Immortal Technique is more down-and-dirty than Mos Def and more scathing than Black Thought. He schools his listeners in gentrification, the diamond trade, and corrupt Republicans.

In “Harlem Renaissance,” he describes gentrification as “trying to put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause,” claiming that the hood is being “ethnically cleansed, economically.”  “Lick Shots” takes a few at Scooter Libby, Glenn Beck, and Ann Coulter, to name a few.

In “The 3rd World,” he says “I’m from where the gold and diamonds are ripped from the earth.”  Or “where they lost the true meaning of the Koran / because heroin is not compatible with Islam,” talking about poppy fields in Afghanistan.  Or he’s “from the only place where democracy is acceptable / is if America’s candidate is electable.”

The worldview is that of an enraged Puerto Rican, who is able to step in and out of character—much like Eminem—while portraying the demons he’s skewering. Though the transitions can be confusing to the casual listener, put in the time and you’ll be drawn into his lyrical angst. The 3RD World is a record that’s everything a good, politically-charged hip-hop album should be:  an angry, socially-conscious, neck-snapping, tour de force.

Immortal Technique - Harlem Renaissance

Immortal Technique - Lick Shots

Immortal Technique - The 3rd World