Don’t confuse Essex’s Rat Boy with the hip-hop trio Ratking or the terrible 1986 movie Ratboy. Rat Boy is Jordan Cardy, a 19-year-old who definitely exists in his own category, but what that category is exactly I have no idea. His new 23-minute mixtape, Neighborhood Watch, is a mind-boggling mix of reggae, rap, hip-hop, garage rock, and punk. Overall, it sounds like a bunch of different drugs were mixed together and somehow something positive came out of it. Cardy is walking a fine line of being over the top, but who says over the top is a bad thing? Rat Boy is rare in that he has both Tumblr/Internet millennial appeal (see cheesy graphic-filled album art and meeting Miley Cyrus) and… something more. When the shock factor of his music and persona fades, you’re still left with interesting compositions and musical experimentation. Listen below via The Fader.

Tracklist:

01 “Rat Boy Aint No Phoney”
02 “Knock Knock Knock”
03 “Interlude (70’s BBC)”
04 “Stick Up Kids”
05 “Interlude (B.A.B.Y)”
06 “Hit The Ground (The Sound)”
07 “Splendid Young Man”
08 “Interlude”
09 “Becca Becca Becca”
10 “Interlude (Girly Drinks Are Nice)”
11 “Violent Glare”