Juiceboxxx – I Don’t Wanna Go Into The Darkness

A Juice Not For Everyone

Juiceboxx’s latest release, I Don’t Wanna Go Into The Darkness, will be not only his first full length LP released since 2005, but will also be the first release for his own record label, Thunder Zone. Although Juiceboxxx may not have released a proper album in the last six years, it’s not to say the man hasn’t remained busy. He has release several singles and EPs during the last few years, started his own record label and is currently trying to get his hands into the energy drink market.

Juiceboxxx is known for his penchant of incorporating a raw, punk energy into his delivery, while still paying homage to old school hip hop with his beats. A seasoned lyricist he may not be but he is definitely not to be considered a nostalgia act.

“Pump It” reminds you what it was like to be a teenager: record scratching, a “Hey, ho” singalong bridge and lyrics about partying. If you were an adolescent in the 90’s, feelings of déjà vu might creep in and give you the sudden urge to listen to some Naughty by Nature.

“Like A Renegade” is, hands down, the best track on the album. His style sounds less like a hodge-podge mixture of interwoven genres and more like a mixed media masterpiece. The chorus, “I got a hole in my life that I can’t escape / and now I’m living on the run like a renegade,” mixed with distorted guitars and pure emotional delivery has the potential to be a modern-day anthem for the hopeless and those in despair.

The remainder of the album tethers between sounding like underdeveloped Euro-music and pop punk. Juiceboxxx’s infusion of heavy distorted guitars, 90’s hip hop beat techniques and sometime silly lyrics may not be for everyone, but there’s no denying this kid’s got heart.