In many ways, Burgertime—by the Teenburger trio of Ontario rapper Timbuktu and Halifax’s Ghettosocks and DJ Jorun Bombay—is the aural, moral opposite of Watch the Throne, the Kanye and Jay-Z collaboration. Watch the Throne is meticulous luxury rap over airlessly handpicked samples; Burgertime is three friends hanging out and delivering freewheeling wordplay about arriving late for class and hiding boners behind binders. Ghettosocks and Timbuktu show bright chemistry over sharp boom-bap production. The album drags at times, its 20 tracks plumped up by some off-message remixes of old material, but unlike a fast-food burger, you can smell how fresh Burgertime is.
This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2011.