Sir Michael Rocks - Banco (Album Review)

Sir Michael Rocks is an artist I've been familiar with for years. I remember hearing about The Cool Kids before they were a big breakout "hipster" hop duo and back when they were just a Chicago sensation climbing up the ranks of various music blogs. I was and still am a huge fan of what The Cool Kids did with their sound, style, and image. The group announced their future reunion this year with a new album to be released after both members released solo albums. Chuck Inglish released Convertibles earlier this year and now comes Sir Michael Rock's debut solo album Banco.

Banco, in sound and style, is quite different from The Cool Kids. In truth, though, it features some of Sir Michael Rocks best music in a long while. I've enjoyed some of his solo stuff, but it's been hit or miss for me. This album, as a whole, is Sir Michael at his best. It’s good beats and nice rhyming. His vocal style has changed a lot since The Cool Kids. I think he's found a nice balance of the bravado he had with The Cool Kids and the style he has now that works well for this album. The beat choice is pretty good overall. Some interesting beats are presented. "Kill Switch" is full of great lines and the beat is one of my favorites on the album. I also really liked the beat work on "Lost Boys". "F*ck Seaworld" isn't 100% about hating Seaworld, although it is expressed that Rocks dislikes Seaworld here and there and at the end of the track. The song itself works really well. It has a great beat and pretty solid verses. I wasn't a huge fan of the massive amount of name drops in the song...but it works pretty well in the flow of the song. The album is full of some noteworthy guests including Chuck Inglish (the other half of The Cool Kids), Mac Miller, Trinidad James, Casey Veggies, IAMSU!, Twista, and Too Short. That's an impressive list for any artists to have on any album. For the most part the guests add really good parts to the album.

The artwork for this album is really interesting. I like the internet browser open with a ton of different images look. It's definitely eye-catching. I think this is much more interesting than the artwork for Rocks Cool Kids partner Chuck Inglish had for Convertibles. You'd almost think Banco's album artwork was the cover of a new indie rock group. The artwork has that overall aesthetic you see in that genre a lot. It's cool to see this style of album artwork used for a hip hop/rap album.

I enjoy this album for the most part. If I had to pick one or two things to be critical of I would start with the skits. The skits add character, but I wasn't a huge fan of them for the most part. Also one could argue that this new style Rocks uses takes away a little of the character and presence that made him such a standout with The Cool Kids. I can understand that I miss that classic sound and style The Cool Kids had on those earlier releases, but at the same time this isn't meant to be connected with The Cool Kids. This is a solo album and I don't so much mind Rocks experimenting around and finding his own sound.

Overall this is one of the better Sir Michael Rocks solo releases and is a pretty good debut album. I think that if you are a Rocks fan you'll dig this and if you like The Cool Kids you should be able to get into this to some degree. It's a little more of a straight up hip hop album, but it does have some interesting twists and turns. Rocks has a lot of personality on the album and that's always been one of his biggest gifts as an MC. This is a cool album; it’s definitely worth checking out.