The king of underground hip-hop has finally made his jump to the big leagues with the release of Square. Buck 65, born Rich Terfry, is indeed a richly gifted artist who has never been afraid of building his own path in his 14-year underground tenure. The release of Square further proves Buck 65 to be anything but the adage "be there or be square." Weighing in with 4 tracks at approximately 16 minutes each (notice the square numbers), Square represents an ingenious piece of pottery molded into a breathtaking display of Buck 65's well-honed underground hip-hop craftsmanship.

As always, Buck 65 does it all on this album. He intertwines acute storytelling with his customarily graceful and innovative production, sampling and turntabalism. As the master of his own creation, Buck 65 yields an album that is both captivating and soothingly relaxing in its delivery of finely tuned instrumentals. In fact, nearly half the album is free of lyrics as it focuses on Buck's sampling ability with notables instances of the word "buck" and the riveting "ickety ickety ack." As well, the album features several impressive and occasionally recognizable songs (from Buck's touring), including the compelling incest story on "Stella;" the upbeat all-for-fun, "Food" which is a striking reminder of Buck's rapping abilities. I could go on and on about "Science," "Sketch Artist," "1200 Hobos," and the dope beats. But I won't.

Buck 65 and his major label debut album, Square, represent everything I love about hip hop. Square is an innovative and well-constructed piece of artwork built from the very building blocks of the essence of hip-hop.

Click here to buy the album.