 
Let me guess, you think you had it rough as a kid because daddy didn't buy you that car you wanted when you turned 16? Boohoo. Maybe you didn't have a dad? Get over it. Or maybe your dad beat you? Good, you probably deserved it. Did your dad force you to play the "wrap this chord around my arm and shoot me up with heroine" game when you were six? Did you watch him beat your mom repeatedly while you watched helplessly? No? Well then stop your crying. That's what New York emcee Cage went through as a kid. Your childhood "time outs" and "no desert for you" punishments don't seem so bad now, do they? Cage's Hell's Winter, his first album for indie-rap label Definitive Jux, is a dark detailed exploration of the artists' psyche. The former Smut Peddler breaks away from his over-the-top former self. Gone are the violent misogynistic horror-core raps and A Clockwork Orange references. It is Chris Palko, a man coming to grips with his haunting past. Though the overall tone of the album is gloomy, Cage's content varies from struggles with his drug addiction to his falling out with Eastern Conference Records. One of the highlights of the album is "Grand Ol' Party Crash" with Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame) playing Dubya. "If the opposite of pro is a con then look beyond this/ the opposite of Congress must be progress," raps the emcee. Production from El-P, DJ Shadow, Blockhead, RJD2, and other helps navigate
listeners through the album. Hell's Winter also features Jello
Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame), Daryl Palumbo (of Glassjaw), Aesop Rock,
El-P, Yak Ballz, Tame One, Camu Tao, and members of Yo La Tengo. Raise
some hell and buy Hell's Winter. - Zoneil Maharaj
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Cage