Burden built a sizable fanbase on songs about hot-button issues such as politics, vaccines, and racism. His personal opinions resonated with a niche crowd — creating hype and covering up his somewhat lack of personality and skill. It is hard to fault the man for doing anything he can to drum up business, but this gimmick runs out of steam quickly — a case in point is his newest release, ‘Caught Between Crossroads.’
In late 2020, Burden delivered the single “Sleepy Joe Cheated,” a nearly catchy single attacking the recently elected president, Joe Biden, and the circumstances around his nomination. The Slim Shady vibes are hard to miss, but it feels more like a ripoff than a homage.
This single gave way to the politically slanted album ‘Uprise,’ which featured “Message From America,” “White Privilege,” and “We The People.” These songs served the artist well, sending him on a journey of popularity that he may have never seen otherwise.
Soon after came ‘Pure Blood Deluxe Edition,’ an album largely based on the controversial COVID-19 vaccine. Even though this continued the artist’s upward momentum, the topic dated rapidly.
Left scrambling for relevancy, Burden picked up a guitar and played down the lo-fi beats, hoping to emerge as the next big independent singer-songwriter. Attempting to focus more on relationships and mental health, Burden figured this would show a more mature side of his artistry. Instead, it showed the world his limitations.
With Presiden Joe Biden on his way out of office and returning President Donald Trump being ushered back in, Burden tries to return to his heyday by releasing ‘Caught Between Crossroads,’ an album resurrecting the political rants without leaving his newer introspective sound behind. What we get is an album with an identity crisis.
“DPWM” starts things out strong with a decent beat and a smooth flow. While overall forgettable and far from quotable, the song serves its purpose, building up hope for what’s to come. The theme is basic hip-hop flare illuminating the hard road the artist took to where he is today, but nothing stands out to make the artist a martyr.
“Donald Trump’s Your President” follows shortly after attempting to rub liberals’ faces in the fact that they are no longer running the Oval Office. The artist revels in what he hopes to be America’s return to greatness. Several of the lyrics may have been lifted from any given speech given by President Trump or Vice President Vance.
Any positive aspiration this song could have created is destroyed by its mocking tone. This is not the way to show you are the bigger person. Instead, the smug lyrics can only cause more division.
Next are a handful of acoustic guitar-driven tracks that could have been better received if siphoned through a professional producer. While the sound is fine in and of itself, the clunkiness of the lyrics and lack of a decent hook are glaring issues repeated throughout.
“Alive Again” has the artist flashing back to the memories of a close friend who died of a possible overdose. The feelings are strong here, drumming up a faint mist to the listener’s eyes, but the limited vocal range gives the fans a fair amount of cringe. While Burden can typically carry a tune, rapping is much more his forte.
“So Close” has the artist hoping to reconnect with a relationship that ended badly. Love can outlast many things, but a series of bad decisions sheds new light on character flaws. Dishonesty, selfishness, and apathy can burn through any facade a person may dream up — the holes created by these fires are the ones relationships fall between.
“Cool” has Burden sitting behind a piano for a balladesque jaunt. With fewer lyrics, the song would be more effective and emotive. Attempting to squeeze a million words into a confessional does nothing to evoke additional forgiveness while explaining yourself at a basic level evokes empathy.
It is refreshing to hear that the artist is getting past the point of needing to party and learning to live a simpler life. Being an adult is about putting responsibilities over public image.
Once the audience feels fairly confident in the direction Burden is taking, he decides to throw it back to the political slant with “F Kamala.”
While one of the catchier songs on the album, this song is simply a rehash of the artist’s older tunes “F Biden” and “F Biden 2.” It is difficult to let this song stand on its own merit without returning to the former releases for some back-to-back listening.
There are plenty of truth and fact checks within the lyrics, but the crass approach will most likely limit the streams the artist will receive, ultimately reducing any impact he could have had on the political scene. Vulgarities rarely win votes in the long run. As the saying goes, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
A few songs later, “Country is Country” chimes in with a decent guitar riff that seems almost out of place on this album. A majority of the other songs here feature lazy strums and non-commital plucks that do little to convince anyone that the artist has anything more than a passing interest in the instrument.
The lyrics convey a real love for our country and God, bragging about what America is and isn’t. As a modern-day anthem, this song is satisfactory, or at least it is more digestible than Fergie’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
We have Christ in our hearts, with the stripes and the stars, and the right to bare arms. We are gonna fight for what’s ours. Yeah, this country is country.
“From The Grave” brings in the talents of the like-minded rapper FJ Outlaw. The two trade verses about rising from the ashes of who they once were. Both individuals claim they were struck down and left for dead, but they are now taking this opportunity to crawl their way out of the dirt they were buried in.
None of the words seem to hit as hard as the musicians want them to because most have been heard before. It is great when a man refuses to give up no matter how often he is beaten down. However, if he has nothing new to say about his experiences, one must wonder how long before he falls again.
As the album winds down, another piano-driven song, “Crazy,” brings back unintentional memories of “Just A Friend” by Biz Markie. While the Biz Markie classic always felt deliberately bad, Burden appears sincere — at least on the surface.
When the final track hits, “Bad To The Bone,” it is a bit of a surprise that this isn’t a poorly chosen cover. Not a single note of George Thorogood & The Destroyers’ definitive rock song graces the track, and it is unclear whether or not that is a good thing.
Instead, we get a track similar in vibe to the album’s opener. Similar, as in generic, lackluster, and unconvincing. This song is the equivalent of wearing the word “rebel” on your belt buckle.
At the end of the day, ‘Caught Between Crossroads’ leaves no lasting impression. Most of the lyrics are forgettable at best, the beats barely get your feet tapping, and the guitar work is far from inspiring. Even after listening to the album multiple times, it is still difficult to pick a favorite song because each track lacks something — be it production value or a catchy hook.
To say there is no redeeming quality from this album may be a stretch though. It would have been easy for Burden to throw out another album owning the Libs due to the election year, but instead, the artist attempts to show a measure of maturity. His heart is in the right place when his attitude doesn’t get in the way, and the attempts at being genuine seem sincere.
Maybe a couple of albums down the road Burden will find the exact sound he is searching for and worry less about being “Bad To The Bone” or “Crazy.” Here’s to hoping ‘Caught Between Crossroads’ is a transition period, not rock bottom.
What is your favorite track on ‘Caught Between Crossroads?’ Let us know in the comments below.
Listen to ‘Caught Between Crossroads.’
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Charles E. Henning
Self-proclaimed "entertainment guru" Charles E Henning fills his free time reading books, watching movies, and listening to music. While not always up on the latest trends, he is consistently willing to dissect the themes of pop culture.
