Independent's Day

Twiztid are back once again with the extremely ill behavior, and Independent's Day is the horrorcore rap duo's big guest star album with news-making collaborations if you are a juggalo or Shady devotee. Twiztid are connected to the ICP/Psychopathic Records/juggalo camp, while their guests Bizarre and the late Proof are connected to the D12/Shady/Eminem crew and the two Detroit-based factions were "at war" for years before Proof "squashed" the beef in late 2005. The squishing produces two of the best tracks here, the frantic "How I Live" with Proof and the super filthy "Wet Dreams" with Bizarre, or as it's spelled on the back, "Bizarr." Whether these misspellings are to get around their guests' contractual obligations to major labels or just good old mistakes, the most telling one is when they totally blow it on DJ Quik and put the "ck" back, thus ruining the Blood member's lifelong avoidance of anything that could be short for "Crip Killer." Oops. It's a metaphor for how well Twiztid blend with their true hip-hop brothers and how much better off they are going for local freaks like their mentors ICP plus Blaze Ya Dead Homie and their neighbors from the north, the Dayton Family. With guests like that, you shouldn't expect anything responsible, but it's hard to forgive the "she was asking for it" attitude of "Sex, Drugs, Money & Murder," a tale of woman problems that ends in murder. Instead of chilling, it just seems out to shock, and putting people like tha Dogg Pound — or "the" Dogg Pound as Psychopathic misspells it — on the album really points out the difference between those who tell tales of the hard life and those just posturing. Good thing Proof, Bizarre, and the rest can come down to Twiztid's level; good thing the cheap productions are better than usual; and good thing their fans have wild imaginations — because the so-so Independent's Day is all about pretending.