Hip Hop often works best when it’s at its most particular. Classified, who has thrived in the nitty gritties of the independent East Coast rap scene for over a decade, gets quite particular on Self-Explanatory, his major-label debut.

Highlight track: “Choose Your Own Adventure, Part 2”
Subpar track: “Inspiration”
Overall rating: 8/10

Whether he’s rhyming about his girl’s love of healthy food, the joys of a simple bike ride, or his morning routine (“I do my push ups, 40 every other morning/It feels good to say, but I don’t think it’s that rewarding”), Classified never lets you forget that Maritimers do hip hop a little differently, and on a much more intimate scale. And his take on “Oh Canada” is an anthemic category unto itself.

The album’s first single, “Anybody Listening,” is built around a hook from Genesis’ “No Reply at All,” and will tweak the ears of non-rap fans. Ditto for the Joel Plaskett team-up, “One Track Mind.” Self-Explanatory also includes the unique and notable mini-epic “Choose Your Own Adventure,” a six-track attack that forms a kind of iPod-friendly concept EP. Cannily devised, it allows the listener to navigate his own way through a moderately eventful day in the life of a Halifax MC—one Halifax MC in particular.