‘Fat, Black & Awesome’

He’s wearing a woman, his underwear and little else.

Clutching a 40-ounce bottle of beer in one hand, a lady in the other, Hassan Hamilton poses shirtless in his boxers, head cocked to the side, like he just dodged a punch.

How to describe this picture?

“Fat, Black &Awesome.”

Those are Hamilton’s words, which double as the title of the burly MC’s new record, whose cover is the visual described above.

The album is every bit as revealing as its sleeve suggests: the rapper doesn’t just bare himself physically, but emotionally as well.

“Whether it’s funny, personal, sad — whatever the feeling is — I’m willing to go there even if it’s at my own expense,” Hamilton says on a recent Thursday evening. “That’s when you really come into your own, when you’re willing to lay some brutal honesty on yourself. It’s really part of me growing, not only as a musician, but as a man in general.”

The growth that Hamilton speaks of is palpable on “Fat, Black &Awesome,” whose release he’ll celebrate with a show at the Hardhat Lounge (1675 Industrial Road) on Saturday with a bevy of his fellow artists in the Brain Jelly music collective.

It’s a candid, cutting record, exemplified by a song such as “Mr. Contradiction,” where Hamilton takes an unflinching look at himself. “I like to clown other people, yet hate to be laughed at,” he confesses over a menacing-sounding bass line. “I’ll be the first to tell ya I can do it myself / But to be honest, I can barely hold it together,” he adds later.

Whether he’s tackling his own issues or those posed by modern technology (“Area 51-50”) and social media (“Thirsty &Starving”) Hamilton does so with wit and openness, his rhymes layered over a consistently inventive production by Professor Def (John Kiehlbauch), whose musical backdrops range from frantic jungle rhythms to hard rock bombast.

It’s the best thing the 30-something rapper has done, and yet, it almost didn’t happen.

Following some serious medical issues last year, Hamilton struggled with symptoms of withdrawal from the drug Klonopin.

“I thought I was going to die,” he says, clad in a black Wasteland T-shirt that reads “Waste Your Life. Be An Artist.” “I literally thought it was going to take my life. Surviving that gave me a strong sense of urgency to just live to the fullest and really create, because there was a point in time last year where I was questioning whether I wanted to do music any more. It just wasn’t in me. I was emotionally wiped out.”

As drained as he felt, it was his music that ultimately re-invigorated Hamilton.

“That dog is always gonna chase that Frisbee,” he says of himself in relationship to hip-hop.

Judging by his latest record, that dog has caught said Frisbee.

Hamilton smiles.

“Exactly.”

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow on Twitter @JasonBracelin.