A work of pure pleasure, MC Chris’ Eating’s Not Cheating is equal parts white-boy rap send-up and geeky chic over Nintendo-style beats. It reeks of flavor-of-the-month hype, but there’s a difference between MC Chris and the veritable legion of one-hit wonders: he knows how silly this is.
The longtime Adult Swim musical collaborator, providing the rhymes on such shows as Sea Lab 2021 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force (as the ludicrous MC Pee Pants), has finally released a full-length of material. Rather than merely releasing the already existing Adult Swim work, which would have been more than enough for fans, Eating’s Not Cheating is entirely fresh but maintains the goofy MC Chris signature sound.
Charmingly inventive but incredibly juvenile lyrics are the meat of this record: “But I’m a freak, spelled f-rthree- three-k/When you’re walking my way with my pockets I play” is on “Rats” among a whole host of equally mischievous lines about meeting girls in college. For those who haven’t heard MC Chris, his style is one of an incredibly talented infant—high-pitched and fast rhymes about the most childish of topics.
Beat master J.Fewell contributes well to the record, adding some excellent melodies on tracks like “Illy Oi!” and vocal effects on “Boys Don’t Cry.”Overall, the sound of the record is lo-fi and cartoony— not strange considering where the boys got their start.
If there’s anything that hurts this record, the choruses aren’t as catchy as the songs featured on Adult Swim. On the other hand, that might have a lot to do with the nature of writing full-length songs as opposed to what occupies 30 seconds to a minute of airtime on your average cartoon.
Plenty of critics will say this is whack— and they’re right. It’s totally whack. In fact, it’s intentionally whack—and therein lies the charm. Recommended.
