3 of 5
In this current wave of too-cool-for-school MCs that refuse to display so much as an inkling of energy, there’s no one who even comes close to matching Craig Xen’s level of intensity. His style is reminiscent of hardcore MCs from the genre’s prime, when guys like 2Pac, and later DMX, embraced their emotions in a way that suggested bravado and masculinity, rather than apathetic insensitivity. If we are in the midst of the opiate-numbed stoner era of hip-hop history, I think it’s fair to say that tracks like Craig Xen’s “Unleashed” are here to awake us from our drug-induced slumber, and get us back to the energetic, revolution music that made hip-hop so great in the first place.
