On Who the Fuck Is Chris Spencer??, Chicago Rappers Chris Crack and Vic Spencer team up for a weird, awesome album that is influenced equally by '90s boom bap and Chicago Trap.
You may know Vic Spencer from his inarguably bad diss track towards Mick Jenkins; please ignore his pointless beef with Mick, it's stupid, and you may know ChrisCrack, or probably you don't. You don't have to know anything about either of these artists to assume that this album is a new approach to their music, since it sounds pretty new period.
As far as rapping goes, Chris Crack sounds crazed, like Ol' Dirty Bastard got aged backwards a few years and modulated up a few octaves (listen to the hook on "No Biggie"). And Vic spits in a commanding baritone. It's straight up lyricism, an album full of both clever wordplay, and fascinating, engaging weirdness, and a bit of aggression as well. The subject matter is loosely strung together by the persona of Chris Spencer, but it doesn't try to be a concept album, it's not. It doesn't need to be a concept album, it still holds together, mostly because on every track of the project, Chris Crack and Vic Spencer are completely on the same page.
The production, done mostly by Chris Spencer (I think, where are the Genius pages?) is interesting, new, and also great to rap over. Chris Spencer is a pro with wide guidelines for beat styles, but a distinctive sound nonetheless, something of a Chicago trap take on 90's MPC sampling. Some songs are purely reminiscent, like "What's Saturday." Many would assume that this means that the production is a modern evolution of the rap of '90s Chicago, but it's not that. There's a subtle but important difference, which is that the album doesn't sound like new Chicago rap, it sounds like a member of new Chicago went to 1996 and made an album there. A great summary is the track "No Flavors." The production landscape is, in a few words, Chris Crack's take on a '90s album.
Chris Spencer has a few major, although ignorable flaws. It is a bit monotonous, and a few songs sound like they just didn't need to be there ("cement"), but the worst part of this album is that the features just aren't that good. They're unimpressive, and only serve to give the listener a fresh voice. This tape couldn't sustain it's length without some features; It's just a shame there weren't some better ones.
I think this is a great album, as a hip hop head but also a teenager/listener of modern hip-hop, and one that achieves the goals it sets for itself. Overall, Who the Fuck Is Chris Spencer?? is an interesting album that I would definitely recommend giving a listen, despite a few skippable tracks.
Find it at Apple Music, Spotify, or the internet.