It's like something out of West Side Story — two rappers from opposite sides of the tracks making beautiful music together. "Caked Up," which originally appeared on Stik Figa's Babylon EP, is one tasty cut — a slow, sugar-drizzled Greg Enemy beat with a moaning bass line and slinky vibraphone. But it's Stik's vocal duet with guest MC Ron Ron on the remixed version that puts the icing on the tart. Hailing from the East Side neighborhood known as the 50s, Ron Ron is the full gangsta-rap package: a remarkably sophisticated lyricist with a back story that grants him more than enough street cred. By contrast, Stik Figa endows his extra-quotable versology with harmless slacker charm and valedictorian smarts — you won't hear talk of extracurricular hustling in this Topeka native's rhymes, in other words. Take the fact that each MC is at the top of his game right now, and "Caked Up" isn't so much a song as a summit meeting, the long-awaited merger between the area's two distinct hip-hop scenes. The only flaw is that it's over too quickly. Can we get seconds on this dessert?
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