A manifesto regarding the crimes of the government against its people and of the people against themselves, Percy Carey's (aka MF Grimm) 60-song epic American Hunger is a hard-hitting, provocative record that contains none of the skits or other filler commonly associated with hip-hop. Instead, every track is a well-constructed and thoughtful piece, with clean, melodic beats and heavy drums, that furthers the overall message while still functioning as its own entity. Not a concept album in a strict sense, American Hunger explores the themes of political and social injustice and the struggles of life as a black man; broad enough to give Grimm and his immense lyrical skills space for in-depth reflection and criticism while keeping him focused and directed. Though his delivery is generally slow and uniform, a fact he acknowledges ("flow so simple.../thoughts so radical"), he's bitingly witty, castigating anyone and everyone -- including himself -- for their misdoings. Each disc begins with the song "American Hunger" (in "Breakfast," "Lunch," and "The Last Supper" variations, to correspond with the title of each disc), a kind of metaphor for the contradiction between the drive of the American Dream and the way the government holds back many of its citizens from attaining it, and moves on from there. The president is the main target of these attacks, but Grimm (or Jet Jaguar, as he often calls himself when with his Monsta Island Czars crew, who show up as guests frequently) holds equal disdain for all politicians. "George Bush to me is the straight-up devil/John Kerry's down with him, he ain't no better," he declares, and over the blues-induced beats of "I'd Rather Be Wrong" he spits "I guess I'm just like Colin Powell/Lack of real power..." and "Condoleeza Rice, how you sleep at night" angrily, while on the darker "Street General" he describes his feelings about censorship ("Choking while the government proceeds to hang me/burned neck from strangling, laugh while dangling").