Rating:
  Review Date: August 31, 2007
  Website: Creature Website
  Label: Coffee Grind Media

Creature “Hustle To Be Free” Album Review
If you were to look up the word “grind” in the dictionary ten years from now, you just might see a picture of Creature – chillin’ outside Fat Beats NYC, talking to a lovely young lady who he charmingly coerced from the sidewalk; with a CD or a book in one hand, a flier for some upcoming performance in another, and a pack strapped to his back with hundreds more inside. When you acknowledge that this is Creature’s daily routine, it becomes clear that this MC is the perfect example of a hip-hop grinder.

After selling more than 10,000 copies of his debut album, “Never Say Die,” directly to fans all over the United States and parts of Europe, Creature wrote a book about his on-the-grind experiences titled “The Underdog’s Manifesto.” And now he has created the perfect soundtrack for that book in his sophomore project, “Hustle To Be Free.”

“Hustle To Be Free” is an exceptional independent release that shares the stories, lessons and beliefs of an MC who has made a living as an “artistpreneur,” making and selling his own hip-hop music without the help of a label, marketing campaign or hundred-thousand-dollar budget. It is a must have for anyone who wishes to do the same.

Hustle Anthems
In “Hustle To Be Free,” Creature offers a handful of songs that introduce himself and his daily grind to the listener. In Not What I’m Here 4, Creature shows pride in a style of music and marketing that he fearlessly creates in disregard for the hip-hop norms:

Mixed a little Rick James with pimp game
Now I’m back slicker than Rick’s chains
It’s sick man the way I spit man
I don’t flip ‘cane – I spit pain
Oh hell they say he won’t sell
If my jeans ain’t tight as Pharrell’s
Who say I gotta start dressing like Lupe?
Or pumpgay or act like Kanye?
My favorite rappers are O’Shea and Andre
They call him OJ when he’s with an Ofay
Okay it’s safe to say he’s a renegade
The pins outta grenade – he’s never been afraid

Lessons of the Grind
Other tracks share experiences Creature has had traveling all over to promote and sell his music. In Mo Greazy, he talks about successful ventures he’s had at hip-hop events all over the country, and how these experiences taught him the need to hustle and sell:

Ain’t you Creature the guy that hustles in front of Fat Beats?
Sells CDs like they crack in the street?
In the flesh yes indeedy – poor not needy
Applaud me when you see me cause I’m raw and greasy
A matter fact the Grizzy Adams of rap
What you want a pat on the back ‘cause you rat on cats?
You a part timer with no heart to be a grinder
We been here from the start, here’s a reminder
To you average preschool rhymers
The streets is savage you vagina
Y’all got bad laid back recliners
It’s a fact I got stacks ‘cause I’m a grinder
I did my thug thizzle man at Scribble Jam
Fam I made about a grand hand-to-hand
I’m always heavy at Rock Steady
I walk the block and got my stocks up already
The best one-man street team
Hustlers on steroids, brains on creatine
So if you’re broke you better find something to sell
Is dying in heaven worse than living in hell?

Stories of a Grinder
And in a couple tracks, Creature tells the stories of people he’s met on his path to hip-hop independence. Ready 2 Explode is packed with different stories about hip-hoppers Creature has run into in his travels. The following verse tells the story of a suburban teenager drawn to hip-hop:

Depressed teen with low self-esteem
Momma thinks rap is so obscene
Awkward nerve with unheard screams
Been in third beat since sixteen
Dying to escape the suburban scene
Influenced by urban kings and queens
When they hear it loud they loose control
I’m ready to explode!

Creature’s “Hustle To Be Free,” has become my early morning favorite – the album I throw in during my daily work grind. It demonstrates a positive can-do attitude that urges the listener to hustle their way to freedom. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the album and the book. And stay on the grind homie – if there’s one thing you can learn from Creature, it’s that anything is possible if you put in a little hustle. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Thump
2. Reckless Eyeballlin
3. His Name Is
4. Love Ya Self Feat Preachermann
5. Not What Im Here 4
6. Mo Greazy Feat 4ron
7. Fryin in the Sun
8. Refuse to Lose
9. Ready 2 Explode
10. Get Up N Go
11. Sidewalk Talk
12. Suck U Dry