Joey Stylez

Saskatchewan Moosmin First Nations' Joey Stylez's The Black Star contains a lot of artist-driven bubblegum pop turned slightly on its ear with hip- hop and electro base lines. There are exceptions, but for the most part, it is a compilation of catchy production with simple lyrics. Sometimes you may even wonder what the hell is going on, as in the case with "Joey," which has Stylez sounding much like Cartman from South Park. Is this album trying to be different for the sake of being different? Probably not, it seems that Stylez is just being himself in style and spirit. Although there is always the hankering to skip to the next track, I found myself on many occasions letting the song play out just to see which direction it would take. The Black Star also contains the 2009 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Award-winning, guitar-infused "Sugar Cane" (Best Music Video), which garnered Stylez some attention. There is little doubt that Stylez has found a niche audience with his unique, up-tempo sound and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he threw it all away and went a new route the next time around. Why? Why not?