SALT LAKE CITY SOUND OFF

Adverse’s “Knock, Knock”

By Randy Harward, 3-10-06

	Adverse

Adverse (a.k.a. David Hunt) isn't your carbon-copy white rapper. For that matter, he's nobody's easy stereotype. While he has the incisive humor, rapid delivery and nasal brogue of Eminem, he lacks the turgid ego--and the throbbing homophobia. Although he dresses like an indie rock scenester, he's naturally sardonic and shuns the concept of ironic distance. Despite being a hip-hop artist, he's one of the few who decline the built-in excuse from including melody in his songs. On his debut album, Juice, Adverse displays surprising skills in a context where clichés are expected and accepted. The beats, courtesy of turntablist Shalem and multi-instrumentalist Ellipsis, rise and fall with poetic precision and minimal samples--they’re not playing records, they're playing music. Over these sounds, Adverse nimbly and wryly disses that which truly irks him: People who take themselves too seriously, the folly of ego. How perfectly ironic and contrary, and quite unlike carbon-copy rappers, period.

Click here to check out "Knock, Knock." If you like that, visit Adverse's MySpace page for more.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.