When I turned 26 years old I had what I called a “quarter life crisis”. Essentially I was confronted with the reality that I was no longer a “youth group kid” and instead an adult with real responsibilities. Beyond that as I became more and more aware of the life happening around me it was so easy to see injustice and conflict lurking around every corner, rather it be on a political front, or the people in my life that were behaving so unexpectedly. Even with all that I desperately wanted to remain optimistic and cling to some sort of childlike notion of faith and joy.
This in a nutshell is what rapper John Reuben decided to confront on his album “The Boy Vs The Cynic”. The songs can be roughly split into two categories with the “Boy” songs focusing on trusting in God and enjoying life despite setbacks, while the “Cynic” songs see’s John super frustrated with politicians, western Christianity, and even himself. With the ultimate question becoming which should rule your life? The “Boy” or the “Cynic”? The album opens with two of the more upbeat songs, the made for youth group parties “Out Of Control” (who’s punky alternate rock sound immediately hooked me) and the made for radio “Nuisance” featuring a stupid catchy chorus courtesy of Matt Thiessen of Relient K. Both sets of lyrics have that kind of mid-2000’s vagueness about them that still manage to be positive and leave you feeling good. However it’s the next three songs and in particular the first of the set “Chapter 1” that sets the stage for some of the more interesting aspects of the album. More stripped down production mostly looping in the background serve as a nice backdrop which John seems to prefer for his ranting. The song wrestles with some hard questions like how do you try to be a positive influence in a world that just doesn’t seem to care? And while reaching one person is nice you have 10 others that just turn to the mainstream and prescription drugs because as John puts it (and I absolutely love this line) “’Cause 21st century America likes its witchcraft civilized.” The rest of the album alternates between similar rants such “Follow Your Leader” and “What About Them?” which both involve calling people out for their hypocrisy and the more upbeat driving with the windows down songs like “Sunshine” and “All I have” which includes a lyric that deeply resonates with me “who knew that simply being content was the dream come true?”. The near perfect closing track that also happens to be the title track finally tackles the question of which point of view is the “correct” one? The music for this one finds a nice middle ground between the catchy choruses of the fun songs and the intense thought provoking verses of the serious songs. The ultimate conclusion seems to be that there is enough room in life for both youthful optimism and eyes wide open cynicism and in fact both may be necessary depending on the circumstances. Or as the closing line puts it so succinctly “Time to create a new atmosphere where the boy and the cynic can both play fair”. Suggested tracks: Nuisance Chapter 1 All I Have The Boy vs the Cynic
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