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92. We Don't Even Live Here - P.O.S. (2012)

Hip Hop

P.O.S. makes it clear that his love for punk rock is just as great as his love for hip hop. There’s a blatantly punk mentality on display on We Don’t Even Live Here (2012), with brash anarchism oozing through every line and a general ambivalence to, and disdain for, every trite morsel of popular culture. The malcontent with the state of the nation is palpable and the punches aren’t pulled or veiled beneath metaphor or allusion. “We came to riot, we don’t want any of your stuff” he raps on “F*** Your Stuff”, leaving zero chance of misinterpretation. The album glamorizes his adoptive counterculture comprised of the weirdos, the misfits, the have-nots and even the vaguely bemused, encouraging them all to disavow the narrative and occupy the streets brandishing bolt cutters, bricks and lock-picks.

With a spot all but guaranteed on the Mt. Rushmore of Minneapolis hip-hop, P.O.S. has one of the most recognizable flows anywhere. He manages to slip savagely through bars and bars full of clever lines that would trip up lesser rappers, deftly navigating complex syllables with a characteristic discontented crunchiness. The album is a call-to-arms, imploring all those fed up with or jaded to the establishment, the government, or to anything at all, to abandon the script and appreciate the virtue in dwelling outside the walls of the city. While the riot-incitement is carpet-bombed throughout the album, the motivation behind it seems to be honest, even noble. It appeals to the unspoken uneasiness that many people share with the status quo and it offers a declaration that rejecting those feelings and the institutions that cause them isn’t just ok, it’s liberating.

*image; cover art for the album We Don’t Even Live Here by the artist P.O.S