MC Chris - Eating's Not Cheating

Eating's Not Cheating is easily Chris' most distinct and unique work. His other albums are known for tons of geeky pop culture references and funny skits to break up the songs. Eating's contains few of the former and none of the latter. Instead of songs about Star Wars and stuff like that, it focuses more on his thoughts about marijuana and girls. It's easily the least nerdy thing he's done and from a standpoint of pure rap prowess, it's probably his best album. It's filled with great beats and very strong lyrics. Whether you actually like it the most depends on what exactly you like about him, just quality rap or that along with the dorkiness he's known for.

I got the reissue, which has three extra songs and two remixes. "MC Chris Owns" starts off strong with an awesome sound to it, and is followed by "Badass" which is easily the silliest song on the album. "Illy Oi" is the first new track, and it's got a nice beat and fun chorus. "Tractorbeam" is probably my favorite, with great, very descriptive lyrics and a nice sound. The record continues along on with a good groove. The songs are maybe a bit more same-y than on his other works, but it's all consistently at least pretty good. "Care Bear" is a little different, with the only backing to Chris' rap being his own beatboxing. "Boys Don't Cry" is one of those sweeter songs he does sometimes, and I like it a lot, though I might like it more if the chorus didn't include the line "I'm jonesin' harder than Gollum." It would be fine elsewhere, but it doesn't really fit the mood. The album ends with "My Name Is", which is a prime example of Chris' penchant for telling us what his name is as often as it fits the song. One of his better lines from earlier is "My self-aggrandizing and deprecation keeps 'em guessing", and it's pretty true. MC has plenty of songs both praising his own prowess and others where he doesn't give himself a break. Whatever he really thinks, he's definitely good at making fun music.