The Rent is Too Damn High, Vol. 1
by Jimmy McMillan
Well, It’s finally happened. A politician autotuned himself. The Rent is Too Damn High is proof positive that you can write 11 songs about the same exact thing. I’ll give you one guess as to what that topic is. McMillan offers some unique solutions for your rent troubles. The first track suggests dancing. The rest of the tracks suggest voting for him. As for overall quality, its shines as a humorous piece and not much else. The singing on the album is pretty much the man talking politics with either his normal or artificially lowered voice. His singing is actually good, but he doesn’t do enough of it for that to matter. Here are some notable tracks:
What is This? -I enjoyed this one. McMillan uses his low, soulful voice to address rent-based social issues. It’s actually worth listening to on its own merits. Don’t expect this in any of his other songs, although there are some that are funny enough to include on the mix tape with Weird Al or the Bed Intruder Song.
My Place- This is the only song on the whole album that isn’t political, it’s a song about sex. It’s not about if there will be sex, but when and where. McMillan has a gift for taking ordinary household chores and having sex during them. When he suggests sex during raking the lawn, I get particularly nervous because he lives in an apartment and doesn’t have a lawn. Someone may look out their window to find the karate master demonstrating his skills with a rake. He has a few orgasms, so pay close attention attention.
R.E.N.T. -When I heard two McMillans singing two clashing tunes while a third is chanting R-E-N-T, I thought my head would explode. Somehow it didn’t.
When You Can’t Pay Your Rent -Melodically, this is the strongest song on the album. The man can rap. That is, of course, until McMillan uses his satanic low voice as a background singer. Before you know it, he’s back to saying that the rent is too damn high. This one has potential in the hands of a less crazy man.
Yaba -Yaba Daba Do, I ain’t vote for you. Not many other lyrics in this song.
Rent Party Christmas -They evicted Santa Claus for not paying his rent. Jimmy McMillan on the other hand doesn’t pay rent and he gets to stay in his apartment. After listing everything he can’t buy for people, he reads the classifieds again. This man is too damn high.
I Never Seen -Jimmy McMillan finally gets back up singers who aren’t Jimmy McMillan. I’m just glad there are others in his species. He acknowledges reality (briefly) in this one. People, he claims, just want to hear him say his tag line. They love it, and they’ve never seen anything like it. Unfortunately, its 14 and a half minutes of a 70 second loop. Anyway, if you want a good laugh just check out McMillan’s music video on youtube. At under two minutes you can enjoy his insanity without going crazy yourself.
