Beans

Beans, the most prolific member of now defunct avante rappers Anti-Pop Consortium, returns solo for a third time since the group’s three MCs went their separate ways two years ago. Shock City Maverick is more of that glitchy, bleep-n-blip, electro-tinged hip-hop and next level b-boy bravado that APC fans crave. Beans gets poetic on the minimal "Interval,” and can still kick it in the clubs with another neo-disco groove, "You’re Dead, Let’s Disco.” The other instrumental, "A Force On Edge,” starts out as a freaky experiment with a sound that slowly morphs into a creepy head-nodder. Shock City Maverick contains a lot of good, up-tempo tracks — "Blind Driver,” "Death By Sophistication,” and the title track, to name a few — but the obvious highlight isn’t even the single "Down By Law.” It’s "Papercut” — an otherworldly dance floor scorcher that urges you to "move your body, clap your hands” and allows Beans to exercise his rapid-fire staccato flow for more than a few bars at a time. Unfortunately, Shock City Maverick is unlikely to win new converts despite very few lows.