If Joe Good wasn't born with a mic in his fist, then the doctor must have handed him one after pulling him out of his mama's womb. That's just how easy and confident his flow is on Hi, May I Help You?, his latest solo mix and one of two inaugural albums from Good and Mac Lethal's joint enterprise, Black Clover Records. (The other release is Mac's Love Potion Collection 2.) Humble in person but a killer when the beats drop, Good has created an album of such fearless certainty that when he calls for the Kansas City hip-hop scene to unite and form a unique identity (the record's overriding theme), he inadvertently crowns himself leader of the pack. He does this not by slinging the brainless, I'm-rich-bitch bravado so prevalent in a genre that encourages artists to brag like they're all the next Al Capone. Rather, Good raises himself by exuding wisdom uncanny for his years, translating it into trenchant rhymes: Acting harder don't make you tougher/If you wanna live that life as an artist, you gon' suffer ("Last Call"). Here is a rapper who knows the difference between real soul and hollow hype who isn't afraid to admit that he struggles like everyone else to pay the bills — and who wants the world to recognize the music in his town for its authenticity, not its ability to pose.
