Cartoons have long been used as vehicles for social satire: think Punch, The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy. All have made us laugh and stop to think. The Boondocks, which centres on African/American culture and race relations has proved considerable inspiration for Watford rapper Dubbledge, who has appropriated pertinent quotes from the US TV series for his second album, Dubbledge Vs The Boondocks. Combining tracks from producers such as Chase & Status, DJ IQ (Professor Green) and Metabeats, the album is a class act with Dubbledge’s sonorous musings, interspersed with telling clips from The Boondocks.

Some of the content is political, from the hard-hitting opening track Making of a Slave aka Willie Lynch to the parody of ethnic labelling (IC1-6) in EyeSeeYou.

“The Boondocks series touches on subjects and rips them to pieces. I got into it because as long as you can laugh at yourself, it’s fine,” says the rapper who went to Cassio College. “Making of a Slave is about self-determination. There are a lot black people running around blaming everybody else but there are opportunities out there. All you’ve got to do is grasp it. It’s not about the colour of your skin any more; it’s about whether you’re rich or poor.“

The richness he talks about is not purely monetary. Though a far cry from what’s been dubbed Christian rap, the deep thinking Dubbledge sits firmly within the Conscious Rap category.

Tracks from the new album such as Holy Cow and his favourite track, Cry, seem to indicate he is searching for spiritual truth through music.

“I am a very spiritual person,“ admits Dubbledge. “I’ve always been inquisitive, trying to find out what the meaning behind everything is. A lot of my music is part of that whole search to find out what it’s all about and not just taking stuff at face value. I found my truth years ago, everything else is just bonus points.“

So what is the double edge?

“Probably that the tongue is one of the smallest muscles in the body but it’s also the one that can do the most harm. Also, there’s two sides to every story; so try and look at both.“

Dubbledge vs The Boondocks is out now.