Posted on 08/11/2009
The days of trying to break into the hip-hop game as the cautiously hip, alternative rapper are over. The over-abundance of thugged-out supermen that clogged up the genre just a few years ago with the likes of 50 Cent and Lil Wayne produced a wave of artists who unequivocally embraced their fears and insecurities - despite wrapping them up in a guise of dope clothes and fly swagger to compensate for it. The rest is history: Kanye West outsold 50, Wayne picked up a guitar and got deep, and the list of like-minded new-wave artists - Kid CuDi, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, etc.- pushed and shoved their way into the game to get a piece of the suddenly larger pie. Nowadays, you need to do more than put on a designer hat and rap about being misunderstood to make yourself original. Johnny Polygon falls into that crowd, but with his debut EP Group Hug, he only somewhat manages to stand out.

Stylistically, Polygon fits snugly into this new crop of rappers, from his penchant for the 80's style R&B synths that Pharrell loves so much and the occasional foray into singing (non-autotuned, thankfully) that Kanye and Kid CuDi flirt with. The seven-song EP kicks off with "DopestFlyestPimpPlayaHardcoreMotherfucker," a playful show of swagger and mic skills that echoes the kind of free-association humor of Del the Funkee Homosapien. That's about the last we see of that side of Polygon (no pun intended), as "The Riot Song" moves into Gnarls Barkley/N.E.R.D. territory, with Johnny providing the understated vocals over a bed of seductive Moog organ. After dancing around the edges on that song, Johnny goes full-on Chester French with "Do You Love Me?," a track drenched in Pharrell's favored layers of synth and schmaltzy relationship therapy. By the time things wrap up on "Rule the World," the flow and wit of the opening track has completely given way to alt-rock star Johnny Polygon trying hard to cover all his bases.

In conclusion, Johnny Polygon presents himself with a unique problem on Group Hug. He's got the talent and tools to be a success, but one can't help but think that he's playing catch-up with artists who have already made some of his would-be innovations commonplace. Instead of giving a lasting impression of his own talents, he only manages to channel and imitate (though in listenable fashion) the likes of Pharrell, CuDi and others who came before him. A few years ago, Johnny Polygon would have been considered innovative and fresh. But in 2009, he just another face in an increasingly crowded field of alt-rappers.

- Martin Caballero