At an early age, before the Dirty South was blowing up all over the land, Turk (as Young Turk) was providing polished, strictly hardcore raps as one fourth of the highly underrated New Orleans crew the Hot Boys, all of whom have continued to lead accomplished solo careers. Turk dropped his first album, the brash, roughly hewn, uncompromising yet understated YOUNG & THUGGIN' in 2001, and a mere two years later, he sticks to more of the same with the aptly named RAW & UNCUT.
"The ghetto took me under and it swallowed me" postulates on "Keep It Ghetto," and keep it ghetto Turk does, as his incredibly elastic voice flows smooth and then jagged, never relaxing for a second. Meanwhile, the frenetic, deeply funky music bangs and pounds behind him delivering the listener into a trance. In between he sneaks terrifically peculiar refrains like "we take penitentiary chances" and starkly reflective lines like "was it just me who was livin' at life." And as unrepentant as Turk can be, he can still come correct with an earnest loving tribute to his mother on "I Luv U for Dat."