"And you tell me that songwriting's like childbearing." So raps Regan Farquhar, aka Busdriver, on "Unemployed Black Astronaut", which is far enough into Fear of a Black Tangent that you're wondering whether this guy is for real, but not far enough for you to have realized that he totally is. "No it's not / It's self-indulgence," he continues, and he could easily be talking about his own work (in fact, he probably is). From the Public Enemy name-check to incessant pop-culture references to the (pretty gutsy, actually) inclusion of a lyric sheet, Fear of a Black Tangent fulfills just about every definition of self-indulgence. It's even long, thanks to three remixes tacked onto the end (but as those remixes are by D-Styles, Prefuse 73 and Nobody -- and they live up to their auteurs' reputations -- we aren't complaining). Busdriver, following both rap precedent and the "write what you know" credo with a vengeance, filters everything through the lens of Self. What he comes up with is usually entertaining, often thought-provoking, and occasionally insightful. Not surprisingly, Farquhar waxes especially eloquent on the subject of Trying to Make It in the LA Underground Scene. While some of his jabs are predictable enough -- he can't resist a potshot at "trucker hats" in the biting "Avantcore" -- his perspective as a black artist with mostly white fans makes for some caustic social commentary. "They want to hear good freestyling with sarcasm of Woody Allen / Their parents own oil rigs / They're just some spoiled kids who I must aim to please / And so I'm dipped in a syrup vat... This year I'm Sambo," Busdriver spits in "Cool Band Buzz", a(nother) song about underground "success" that's half wishful, half contemptuous. A little broad, maybe... but he certainly isn't letting any elephants hang out in the room.

The sendup of Fear of a Black Planet is actually pretty appropriate. Tangent might not be as groundbreaking as that record, but it certainly challenges assumptions about hip-hop. Some tracks comfortably, if a bit quirkily, follow the trail blazed by groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Jurassic 5; "Unemployed Black Astronaut" has a catchy melody and beat, along with rapid-fire vocal delivery in Farquhar's rather pompous-sounding sing-speak, and "Lefty's Lament" uses the familiar jazz and record-crackle samples. Others go completely off the path and into the woods -- and quite an interesting forest it is. "Happiness (is a Unit of Measurement)" juxtaposes a Joan Baez snippet with skittering beats and lyrics like "I'm a spacy shoegazer who stares at Pluto / But I'll be a jiggy jiggabo who goes through laser hair removal / If that means I could pay my rent and other bills." Farquhar takes his vocal idiosyncrasies to new heights on "Avantcore", cramming in as many words as possible and earning his reputation for sounding like a crazy homeless person. On the musical end, he brings in a whole gang of luminaries, several from the LA scene and Project Blowed: guest producers and musicians include Daedelus, Thavius Beck, Subtitle, Danger Mouse, Omid and Paris Zax. They leave a unique imprint on their respective tracks, but Busdriver's own oddity ensures that the album doesn't sound schizophrenic (at least, not in the sense of the songs not fitting together). The guy has plenty of things to bitch about, not least the fact that his "success" doesn't translate to being able to go out to dinner somewhere nice, but putting out a sub-par record definitely isn't one of them.