Citizen Cope

One-man-band Greenwood does an Eminem, titling a record after his given name. By stripping the sound of his well-produced debut down to the bone, Greenwood dials into a new urgency on cuts "A Bullet and a Target" and "Penitentiary." What hasn't changed is the man's musical gumbo of rap, folk, rock and 1970s soul.

Although singer-songwriter Citizen Cope (nee Clarence Greenwood) has a monotone vocal
style that recalls melancholy soul man Bill Withers fused with slack rapper Beck, he draws
the listener in closer with his sophomore disc's downtrodden tales and hybrid hip-hop,
folk and soul sound. On "Fame," which creeps along with haunting organ and piano chords,
he bemoans the disintegration of the American Dream. And the anthemic lead si... More >