Cage: Difference between revisions

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Cage's lyrics are distinguished from most rappers in that they are ''extremely'' personal, although sometimes exaggerated to cartoonish levels (especially on his debut ''Movies for the Blind''), and even though many of his albums and appearances on mixtapes and compilations feature [[Horrorcore|dark portraits of entirely fictional characters]], the personal touch has gotten Cage a great deal of appraisal as a lyricist and artist of great talent.

By the time Palko was kicked out of high school, his mother had remarried twice, and he was beaten by his stepfather Frank. Palko began using PCP, cocaine, LSD, cannabis and alcohol, and was sent to live with his uncle on a German military base, where he was beaten and sent home after a year. Palko was arrested several times for drug possession and fighting in the streets. When he faced jail time for violating probation, his mother convinced the judge that he was mentally unstable, and he was sent to the Stony Lodge psychiatric hospital for a two week evaluation. He eventually ended up staying in the hospital for eighteen months, where he was a part of a small group used to test Prozac. After being misdiagnosed and placed on the drug, he became suicidal and made several attempts to kill himself, including hanging himself with his shoelaces and saving his lithium dose for a month before ingesting all of them at once.

 

 

In 1999, Cage started a supergroup called The Weathermen, alongside Aesop Rock, Tame One, Cage, Yak Ballz, El-P, Breeze Brewin and Camu Tao, whose death led to the disbanding of the group. Cage did not complete an album until 2002, when he released ''Movies for the Blind'', a [[Cult Classic]] that was well-respected by [[Hip Hop]] fans and critics, but Palko later [[Creator Backlash|dismissed]] as being too random and fragmented, and said that it [[Drugs Are Bad|glorified drugs]]. Cage also had a poor relationship with the label that released the album, Eastern Conference Records, and soon left in favor of a contract with another independent label, Definitive Jux, and released an even more personal album, ''Hell's Winter'', which was less fictionalized than ''Movies for the Blind''.

His most recent album, ''Depart from Me'', has been appraised by music critics as a highlight in [[Rap Rock|the fusion of Hip Hop and rock]], as well as his most personal album to date.

 

 

* ''Movies for the Blind''

* ''Hell's Winter''

* ''Depart From Me''

 

* [[Alternative Hip Hop]]

* [[Anti-Love Song]]: "I Never Knew You", to a [[High Octane Nightmare Fuel|nightmarish extent]].

* [[Military Brat]]: Raised on a military base until his father was discharged.

* [[Political Rap]]: "Grand Ol' Party Crash", with [[Dead Kennedys|Jello Biafra]] as "[[George W. Bush|The Dubya]]", who, by the end of the track, [[Hookers and Blow|snorts cocaine]] and says "[[Blue Velvet|I'll fuck anything that moves!]]"

* [[Rap Rock]]: ''Depart from Me''.

** Some notable samples in ''Movies for the Blind'':

*** "Probably Causes Paranoia" takes dialog from ''[[Six Feet Under]]'' about marijuana and PCP, and smoking a joint dipped in ''[[Too Dumb to Live|actual embalming fluid]]''.

*** "Pussy, Money And War" ends with a sample from a ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' video game saying "Cage wins!"

** "Ballad of Worms" samples I Would Hurt a Fly by Built To Spill

* [[Take That]]: A couple of lines on ''Movies for the Blind'' take shouts at [[Eminem]]:

* [[The Rival]]: [[Eminem]] was once this. At one point, Cage decided not to continue with the feud, and moved on to more personal lyrical subject matter, and away from the more typical [[Hip Hop]] elements of his early work.

* [[Write What You Know]]: A lot of Cage's music takes a very autobiographical approach. For example, many of the tracks on ''Movies for the Blind'' were inspired by his actual experiences in the Stony Lodge psychiatric institution.

 

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[[Category:Cage]]

[[Category:Music]]