Rolling Stone (2/15/01, p.78) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...[This] has some great moments....[It] manages to bring some new ideas and energy to the rap game."
Uncut (8/01, p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Kirk Jones' extraordinary LP merits reassessment: it runs the gamut from satiric outrage to gospel rapprochement..."
Vibe (12/00, p.199) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...An engaging fictional account of the life of an ex-con, Sticky finds balance between acting and rapping....proving that [he] is a lot more thoughtful than he used to be..."
The Source (12/00, p.252) - 4 mics out of 5 - "...An artistic apex....arguably hip-hop's most visual work of the new millenium...a cinematic experience....a hip-hop treasure."
NME (Magazine) (6/9/01, p.40) - 7 out of 10 - "...Magic realism, hip-hop style..."
Personnel: Sticky Fingaz (rap vocals); Omar Epps (spoken vocals); Tony Prendatt (various instruments, programming); Black Child, Raekwon, Rah Digga, Redman, Dave Hollister, Firestarr, Eminem, X1, Still Livin, Scarred 4 Life, Superb, Guess Who, Petey Pablo, Canibus, Columbo The Shining Star, Choclatt (vocals); Nate Smith (keyboards); Charles Shaw, Roger Munroe (programming).
Producers include: Sticky Fingaz, Joe Naughty, Rockwilder, DJ Scratch, Self.
Recorded at Unique Studios, New York, New York and Lo Rider Studios, Englewood, New Jersey. Includes liner notes by Sticky Fingaz.
Sticky Fingaz, otherwise known as Kirk Jones, presents an ambitious hip-hop outing that draws on a wide variety of influences in service of a theatrical vision of rap as multi-media experience. BLACK TRASH is packaged as the soundtrack to a nonexistent film. While this is an idea that's been pursued before, Jones so thoroughly transforms the gangsta aesthetic through his cinematic conceptualism that it seems like a completely fresh notion. The use of film soundtrack-style backing tracks and melodic structures that could have come straight from a Broadway musical, as well as the theatrical context, make the violent elements of the lyrics much more palatable. And the spoken interludes have a much more substantial reason for being than on most rap albums. The gem here is undoubtedly "What If I Was White," which features Eminem, and finds Jones tackling the racial turnabout in a novel, winningly humorous way. And the misogynist's apology "Sister I'm Sorry" is as welcome as it is overdue.