bob katz - caught in a butt sandwich

bob katz AKA 'the mangfather', is a new york based rapper and spoken word artist whose music walks the line between comedy and realism. the production is old school, harkening back to the more innocent, high BPM days of the late 80's in new york, reminding me a bit of the fat boys. the way bob handles his subject matter is reminiscent of that era of rap too, in that he blends campy humor with bleak reality.

the title track, 'caught in a butt sandwich', is a light-hearted jam about getting stuck between two big people in the subway. this bubble of fun is burst hard by the next track 'good old days'. bob is a lifetime new yorker and a gay man, and 'good old days' lays out in stark terms the struggle he's faced personally as well as the devastation wrought on his community by aids in the 80's. the song also details all the other ways new york has been transformed from a dark and intimidating breeding ground for the experimental, a comfortable place for outsiders, into a bespoke disneyland for trustfunders and wall street types. this tension between humor and bitterness characterizes the mangfather's MCing throughout the album. having come of age in new york alongside the various artforms of hip-hop, bob knows that hip-hop in all it's manifestations is 'folk music'. he also seems to really love mangos. he's rocking to the beat of his own drum machine, and i recommend you rock along.



listen to more of bob's music here.