Most anything in the vicinity of the hip-hop genre will musically contain synthesized sounds and electronic beats. So, let’s move from the music to the message of Generica, the latest CD from local hip-hop outfit B.U.N.K.S. and label B.U.N.K.S. Muzak.

Unlike most commercial rap music and its profanity-laden jabbering about thug life and violence, this record is actually relatable for a Tennessee hillbilly, with songs about crusin’ around the Tennessee backroads, hanging out with friends, improving American society and the struggles and joys of being a parent.

The record actually documents the death of true hip-hop in a humorous news report where hip-hop was robbed and killed.

But B.U.N.K.S. tackles plenty of serious issues in the 14 tracks, such as the homogenization of American culture (title track). No matter if you’re in Miami or Maine, “Every city looks the same, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, stores lined up in chains.”

The artists touch on consumerism, chemical dependency, obesity, materialism and other social observations multiple times, and the themes tie the record together and let us know these guys are about more than making cool beats.

The very genuine Coffee Flavored Memories?dealing with our neighboring county, not the drink?is a sincere tribute to the people and imagery of the rappers’ coming of age. B.U.N.K.S., actually an abbreviation for Bringing Unmatched Noise Knowledge & Sound, goes on to delve into some political material with lines like “Fox spins more stories than we spin tracks;” ha!

The attempt at some high harmonies on track 5 was kind of rough, but the line is meaningful and sticks in your head. While the genre tends to be repetitive, some nice short instrumental melodies are throw in and break up the sections of vocals.

Also the album’s very inspirational for an expecting father to hear.

I don’t have a banging system in my car (yet), so I can’t truly appreciate the lower frequencies of hip-hop, but there are definitely some ultra lows on the cool opening rewind effect that would crush your chest when run through a few sufficiently powered 12s, and plenty more on the record to keep some bump in your trunk. The spitters lure in the listener on track No. 1 with some rapping quickness, and a solid product follows.

Check it out, support the cause. Grab Generica on cdbaby for $5, quite a bargain, “It’s all about the Benjamins, no matter what the business is.”