Roughly a year ago, Nacho Picasso (aka Jesse James, or The Tat in the Hat) recorded a series of songs in an apartment closet titled Blunt Raps – a smoked-out ode to patent leather sneakers and pricey Japanese denim. In Blunt Raps, Nacho P’s narcissism is blatant and overt, cleverly and often comically illustrating his magnetic powers over women, not omitting that he can dodge them as easily as he charms them.

The entire project is coarse and lo-fi, with only a few glimpses of sonic clarity, Nacho’s raspy verses unintelligible at times. Though far from polished, the crudeness of the recordings often lends itself to the utter griminess of Nacho’s subject matter, apparent on tracks like “Not a Good Guy” where Nacho compares himself to horror-doll Chucky while bragging about his sexual exploits: “If she spend the night with me/ She gon have to ice her knee.”

Some may celebrate Nacho for his unbridled vanity, some may even condemn him for his villainous persona. Either way, Blunt Raps is not for the feeble of heart or mind, to put it… er… bluntly.

+ Read a review of Blunt Raps by Andrew Matson for the Seattle Times