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Yesterday, after responding to a comment by Rap Jack Bauer (re: Eminem falling off after hooking up with 50 Cent), I got an email asking me to do a post on Cage. Based on some of the feedback I get, I know most you aren't up on the underground scene and probably aren't familiar with Cage, so we'll start at the beginning:
The backstory on Cage is pretty interesting. His father was in the Army until being discharged for selling heroin, at which point his family moved from an Army base in West Germany to New York. Cage's father became a drug addict, often having his son assist him in his heroin use, and was eventually sent to prison after threatening to kill Cage and the rest of his family during a standoff with police. After his father left, Cage was abused by his stepfather and his uncle. At the age of 16, Cage was arrested for drug possession and sent to a psychiatric hospital. At the hospital, Stony Lodge, Cage became one of the first test subjects for Prozac, though the drug sent him further into depression. Cage was eventually released from the hospital, after a couple of failed suicide attempts, and began rapping under the name "Alex" (a reference to the lead character in A Clockword Orange). He made his debut on former 3rd Bass member Pete Nice's album Dust To Dust on the song Rich Bring Em Back:
Cage's Verse from Rich Bring Em Back (low quality)
A few years later, Cage gained some publicity after getting dissed by Eminem on The Slim Shady LP. Cage felt that Eminem had become famous by biting his style, calling him out in a few interviews after Em was signed by Dr. Dre. Eminem aired Cage out on Role Model, with the line: "I Bought Cage's tape, opened it, and dubbed over it." Cage responded with the diss track 4 Letter Word:
Four Letter Word (low quality)
Last year, after leaving the record label Eastern Conference, Cage signed with El-P's DefJux and released the album Hell's Winter. Much in the same way that Eminem has flipped up his style on his recent albums, dropping the drug and serial killer punchlines in favor of his newfound G-Unit gangbanger rhymes, Cage toned down his own lyrics, got an emo haircut and began courting the hipster crowd with Hell's Winter. Though the album was fairly well reviewed, I have to say that I didn't like it anywhere near as much as his previous work. Here's my favorite Cage track:
Agent Orange
If you're interested in hearing more from Cage, I recommend getting his cd Movies For The Blind. Finally, here are a couple of videos for songs from Hell's Winter:
Perfect World (Live)
Shoot Frank
11/28/2006 10:36:10 AM posted by Fresh