[Ear To The Beats] Sacrificial Rewards

by David Dennis, Jr.
March 26, 2008

“How come … you don’t make it precipitate?/ You know, make rain when you can make it thunderstorm?”—Andre 3000

Ladies and gentlemen, rejoice! Sacrifices have been made to the hip-hop gods, and the drought is over. Finally, new rap albums are coming out. And guess what, they’re pretty good.

Flo-Rida, “Mail On Sunday”: Yeah, I told you. Flo-Rida is looking like he’s going to have a big year. “Low,” featuring T-Pain, is breaking all kinds of ringtone records and is quickly reaching new levels of overplay and annoyance. Though “Low” is not indicative of the artist’s ability, Flo-Rida is an MC capable of taking control of a beat. Flo-Rida lives up to his name as someone who can rap his words around a beat as well as anyone in the business. The caliber of guests and producers also guarantees a thumping album. The album features Lil’ Wayne, Sean Kingston, Will.I.Am and Timbaland, to name a few. With that lineup and Flo-Rida’s, well, flow, “Mail On Sunday” is definitely a fun album to have in the ride.

Rick Ross, “Trilla”: Obviously, Rick Ross has been drinking Lil’ Wayne’s pre-“Carter I” potion because the improvement between Ross’ terrible debut album and his sophomore effort is phenomenal. Ross has made a concerted effort to improve his lyricism and flow, and it shines on “Trilla.” The highlight of the album is the collaboration with Jay-Z, “Maybach Music,” a song that has both MCs waxing poetic about the benefits of the ridiculously expensive automobile. Jay takes us back to a “Blueprint”-era flow while Rick Ross manages to hold his own. The star of the album, though, is the production team known as J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. The crisp drums illuminate Ross’ already captivating voice. The only gripe with “Trilla” is that Ross rarely (see: never) strays from the drug-dealer, boss-status persona. A little more variation in topic would go a long way to make Rick Ross a top-tier artist.

Snoop Dogg, “Ego Trippin’”: Snoop Dogg has definitely earned the right to move to the beat of his own drum. The D O double G has been the star of his own reality show, used the increasingly popular vocoder to sing his way through his first single, and stirred up controversy when he admitted that other people wrote most of his newest album. “Ego Trippin’” is just a downright fun album. Snoop has moved past the point of wanting to make a classic opus and has instead pushed to have a little fun. Indicative of this fun is the guaranteed smash, “Life of Da Party.” This is by far the best single of the young year. The hook is as infectious as they come, and don’t be surprised if you see people posing for pictures when this hit comes on at a club. There are, though, some quizzical songs, like the Prince swagger-jacking known as “Cool.” This song only makes me want to grab my “Purple Rain” album. And “Medicine” is a country song that would make “Gin N’ Juice” Snoop want to shoot his older counterpart. For the most part, though, the album is full of bangers and a good time.

Erykah Badu, “New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)”: If you don’t know why Ms. Badu’s album is on this list, then you are sorely missing the essence of this genius. Erykah Badu is hip-hop. Her newest album only solidifies Badu’s place as a spokeswoman for the genre. Premier hip-hop producers 9th Wonder and the late J-Dilla helped create some of the tracks. “Telephone” is an ode to Dilla, and “The Healer” has Badu declaring that hip-hop is “bigger than religion.” At a mere 11 songs, the album is short but definitely Erykah’s most complete and eccentric. There is surely a Grammy coming her way.

Gnarls Barkley, “The Odd Couple”: “Odd” is a good way to describe the circumstances surrounding this group’s newest release. First, the video for their single, “Run,” got banned from TV because it was deemed unsafe for viewers prone to seizures. Then, the album, which was scheduled for an April 8 release, leaked extremely early. The group then had to release the album a month earlier than planned. I’m not complaining, though. “The Odd Couple” is just as great as “St. Elsewhere.” The chemistry is even better between the two as Dangermouse is really enjoying playing around with Cee-Lo’s amazing voice. Cee-Lo, of course, does his thing as one of the great writers of any genre.

COMMENTS