A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure
is the definitive
Kwame
album, a concept record about his life as a high schooler, and also the one where he created his signature visual style with a wardrobe full of polka dots. A self-described "quiet nerd type" who even brags about his excellent grammar on one cut,
navigates a world of bullies, crushes, immature girls, gossip-mongers, parties, bad report cards, and -- of course -- sucker MCs. A few songs don't seem to have much to do with the concept, but it hangs together pretty well musically, with buoyant, Daisy Age-flavored production (partly by
himself).
"Ownlee Eue"
and
"Oneovdabigboiz"
are underrated singles, and
shows off his storytelling talents on album cuts like
"Da Man,"
"Therez a Partee Goinz On,"
"Whoz Dat Guy."
A Day in the Life
is filled with cartoonish, electronically altered voices commenting on the action and interacting with the bemused hero. It's all good-humored and colorful, if completely non-threatening, and it's too bad that
seems best-remembered today through disses by hardcore rappers like
Tim Dog
the Notorious B.I.G.
Sure, the polka dots are goofy, but in light of everything that's happened since then in
hip-hop
, they also hark back to a simpler, more innocent era, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. ~ Steve Huey