My first taste of Madison hip hop was terrible - I walked in on a show just in time to hear some emcee growling about his AK-47. Maybe there is a neighborhood rough enough in this town to justify the use of an assault rifle, but I haven’t stumbled across it yet. To make matters worse, after that song was over, another guy jumped up on stage to encourage all the women to shake their asses. Not exactly what I was hoping to find from a liberal college town. Thankfully, my second foray into local hip hop was much more fruitful. I noticed that the artist Man Mantis had opened for RJD2, and was now scheduled to be opening for Cut Chemist, so I decided I should get to know his music. With Cities Without Houses, I discovered smart, interesting instrumental hip hop that stands up well against established national acts.

I knew I was in for a treat within a few seconds of the opening track, “Come Into My Parlor.” An eerie synthesizer line sets the tone before the drums kick in with a sharp echoed snare hit. This is juxtaposed with a sample of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell On You,” re-contextualizing it in a melancholy tone. The style is reminiscent of RJD2’s first album, Deadringer. The sample of dialogue from Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train at the end of the song is a nice touch. Lest he get stuck in RJD2’s shadow, Mantis brightens the tone of the album on the third song, “Les Bailenes,” a warm, sunny track with flutes playing against synthesizer over a rolling bass line and drums that march along, like I’m strolling through the park on a summer afternoon. Mantis continues to build over the course of the album, providing the listener with a wide range of tones and styles, varied instrumentation and well developed song structure. The album keeps unfolding new layers and rewards upon repeat listens. At the end of the album, the identity of Man Mantis has been revealed as a complex instrumental hip hop artist who can just as easily make you uncomfortable with confrontational and aggressive music as he can put you at ease with a beautiful love song.

While I’m still learning about all that Madison has to offer, I’m glad that Man Mantis is one of the musical pieces I have to work with. Cities Without Houses provides everything you’d want in an instrumental hip hop album.