I knew nothing about Milwaukee’s “Journeyman from the Heartland” Juiceboxxx before I watched this quick 11 minute documentary but the short piece inspired me to try and find out everything I could about the rapper.  Shot during a tour in 2009, I Don’t Wanna Go Into The Darkness follows around Juiceboxxx who is probably the only polarizing rapper that actually deserves the attention that is instead tossed towards the likes of Kitty Pryde, Kreayshawn, Riff Raff so easily these days.  Without going into his back story or music much at all, the documentary shows just how committed Juiceboxxx is to his craft as he talks about his views on the importance of hip-hop in music.  The blogosphere wasn’t quite the hype creating machine it is now when he started his career, however, I can only imagine the kind of buzz (and unavoidable backlash) that would surround a track like ‘Thunder Jam III’ if it were released today.  Unlike ‘Okay Cupid’ or ‘Gucci Gucci’, ‘Thunder Jam III’ has been out for 6 years and I’d argue that it has matured quite nicely in the context of today’s rap scene.  What I’m trying to get at is that people should go listen to some Juiceboxxx and even if they take the side of hating, there is at least some substance here to argue about.

-PK