Giving it Back

Rapper the Grouch is the son of a fire-setting piano player—Stu Blank, not Jerry Lee—but he puts a little of both into his music. On newest Show You The World, “Mom and Pop Killer” captures the combustible sentiment in a hit-piece about the way big-boxes neutron-bomb the small business man—indie hip-hop is entrepreneurship, too, remember—and on “Artsy,” the Grouch takes a fun little poke at the backpack-and-beret set over a bubbling backbeat. (“You ain’t artsier than me—don’t let an 808 scare ya! If you’re cool with me, I’ll look past the void in you . . . ”) If you missed picking this one up, don’t worry—Sony PSP puts the Grouch’s “The Bay To L.A.” (featuring fellow Living Legend and current president-elect Murs) into your prime-time commercial breaks nightly. And if you missed seeing him yourself, he’ll be waging his own winter war with all-star allies—including violinist Paul Dateh—this weekend.
Tue., Dec. 23, 7 p.m., 2008