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Straight off the internet for free on Christmas Eve emerged a download from an undisclosed “Lancaster”. Tucked near or far away on stolen WiFi from a laptop fashioned together by pieces of broken shackles, prison bars, keys, and various microchips laying around the dungeon, one who calls himself The Jokerr, with two R’s, unleashed an EP that’s planted a seed of destruction in the underground. One could first ask themselves, from first glance at the artwork of the album cover, where this guy has been. Not literally where he’s from, but when you start to listen to the songs where has he been musically? He seems to be an independent from who knows where and to the credits posted inside the CD case composes his own beats locked away in his own studio “The Jokerr’s Lair”.

Once you begin to listen to it though you soon realize that The Jokerr is not your typical underground/horrorcore type of rapper. The cover is a scene of angels and demons intermingling in what seems to be an elaborate room from the castle above the dungeon where he was unjustly imprisoned. In the middle of this busy scene is a jester; equipped with a cap, bells and the entire outfit of a timeless harlequin from the courts of royalty. His face paint a grim display of the pain this character, The Jokerr, has endured trapped and locked away for so long in the deepest, darkest dungeon in all the land. This all behind a flowing banner, on which a simple message (which happens to be the title) is written, a warm ‘welcome’ of sorts: “Welcome To The Show”.

As the disc begins to spin the first song opens as if you’re already there, at the show; ticket in hand. A woman dressed in a white gown and flowing red hair steps behind the microphone, demanding the undivided attention of all in attendance. She now proclaims that you’re in store for the show of a lifetime as a gentle piano texture begins to build slightly, climaxing in a thick symphonic pounding. The show has begun!

From a long awaited return of the one and only king’s jester, The Jokerr opens with the project’s title track ‘Welcome to the Show’. The song is an introduction not only bringing you into the show and all of its surroundings, but shoving you head first into a humungous bucket of flavor; a display of things to come further on in the album. It kind of sounds like how things once were in the land of “Lancaster” The Jokerr seems to hail from. A celebratory time where all was what it should be, until one day something went terribly wrong.

It seems that this album, if visualized, is being performed on a stage from beginning to end, with interactive intermissions and live commentary giving the listener a third-person vantage of the stage conversation. In-between the first and second track is a brief intermission by Lady Mirabelle giving an in depth monologue describing how, unjustly, The Jokerr was sentenced to death by those he strove to entertain. Awaiting his punishment, thrown away in a damp decrepit dungeon, the castle fell siege to an unknown force, and so The Jokerr remained un-noticed, locked away.

As the quiet melody fades out and the curtain opens yet again with a single silhouette cut out of the darkness only by the light illuminating his figure as he grasps the microphone letting out a baritone yell excreting ‘The Jokerr’s Pain’ in every note. He describes in great detail the perils of his condition, and the loathsome way in which he was forced to live during his time in the dark cell. With the ridding of his chains that had so long plagued him, and with the help of newly acquired friend, Corvix the Impaler, The Jokerr now embarks on a simple mission; to find those who imprisoned him and punish them for their transactions. His message is made especially clear with the web-exclusive ‘Give Me Your Eyes’. As the song comes to a close the marvelous looking Mirabelle makes her way to center stage as the lights dim and she clings to the last. By now the stage is set and ready for the next scene…. ‘Here I Am’.

With the lighting changing to a shade of blood red, a booming 808 kick drum fills the mix and The Jokerr begins a lyrical onslaught of magnificent proportions. This punch-line heavy cadence carries elements of raw hip-hop, mixed with the charisma already established by the first two pieces, and has a surprise chorus that seems designed to show The Jokerr can deliver rhymes with the tongue control of the best. After a full 4 minutes and 30 seconds, the song ends abruptly with the infectious laugh of the evening’s host.

Once again we are greeted by the red-headed woman describing a world that exists not too far beyond our own. How one could find themselves looking for this place of indescribable pleasures where all are more than what they seem. Then, ever so slowly, crept in a fog that was generated in the darkest corner of the room. The curtain rises and The Jokerr is sitting affixed on a stone with one hand placed atop of it as he entrancingly introduces the audience into the ‘Omniverse’. This is a land of wonder and amazement; where it seems anything can possibly happen.

Closing the book on ‘Omniverse’, The Jokerr and Mirabelle engage in a comedic conversation followed by a tasteful mocking of the host’s manufactured English accent. At this point Mirabelle herself assumes the microphone and delivers a poetic 8 bars, summing up the evenings activities. A brief reverse-explosion ensues and The Jokerr quickly switches the pace and hits off with the final performance of the night with ‘I Don’t Fit In’. This is a tongue-twisting, fast paced way of identifying with those who obviously don’t fit in – and are looking for somewhere to belong. It seems to be a way to go out with a BANG leaving the audience stunned, wanting more.

With the show summed up, the audience wowed and amazed, and the stage left in ruins, The Jokerr, The “Guillotine Garrison”, “he to whom there is no comparison”, the new undisputed “Sultan of the Underground” stands alone, shamelessly welcoming challenge, and daring all those who would like to take aim at the name. This album is a bold footprint on the door of the underground game and shouldn’t be slept on.

Websites

The-Jokerr.com
MySpace.com/TheJokerr

Release Date:

• 12/24/2009

Reviewer:

• Whipstick