MUSIC: Castle - Return of the Gasface LP

Castle is the type of rapper, that at the age of 16, I would have made mixtapes of his mixtapes in order to have the perfect continual playback of my favorite b-sides. His wordplay, cynicism, humor  and all-around off-beat nature would have appealed to my, then, underground rap fanaticism. No longer being 16, I can still appreciate Castle. The North Carolina native's comically awkward raps, which are signature to his unique approach to topics ranging from the pressures of corporate conformity to The Simpsons, does not diminish the fact that he can really rhyme. His latest project, Return of the Gasface: The Has-Lo Passages, is a revamp of the original Gasface, released last year through Mello Music Group. Not to be confused with the other MMG, Castle’s fellow labelmate, Philadelphia sleeper Has-Lo, gets his due as the lone producer to give Castle’s eccentric lyrics a soulfulness reminiscent of 90’s favorites. Listen to the colorful, comic book-inspired LP here.