Really quick spin: Wordsmith, "The Vintage Vault Mixtape"

Part of the reason Baltimore rapper Wordsmith is such a vivid, expressive storyteller? He is a trained actor (B.A in Theatre from Maryland's Salisbury University, thank you very much). And unlike studio fakers who craft misleading personas or platinum-selling rhymesayers who fumble their way through movie roles, Wordsmith does great things for the label “rapper-slash-actor.”

On his latest project, “The Vintage Vault Mixtape,” a just-released collection of material from the Wordsmith archives, he uses his dual talents beautifully, jumping around between different vignettes and scenes like nobody’s business. On “The Daily Word, 2006-2009 Edition” Wordsmith assumes the role of a news reporter, going into great detail about the major events of the last three years. He makes like a dedicated athlete on the sports-metaphor crammed “March Madness,” where, like NCAA players across the country, he prepares fans for big things next month--in this case, the release of his upcoming album, “The Vintage Experience,” slated for a March release.

Wordsmith performs Tuesday night, as part of the Beat Clash Hip-Hop Producer Battle, at Bohemian Caverns.