Chamillionaire's decision to keep experimenting pays off

Buy Chamillionaire--Ultimate Victory from Amazon!
Chamillionaire's career so far reminds me of Eminem's early career. Eminem started his career spitting punchlines on underground records--so did Chamillionaire. Eminem had an infectious hit single that made him a star. Chamillionaire's Grammy winner, "Ridin'," was even harder to get out of your head than "My Name Is" was. Eminem followed up his thrown-together debut with an opinionated, personal, reflective, and ultimately great album. And despite the fact that Chamillionaire lacks the impeccable rhyming ability of Slim Shady, his sophomore effort Ultimate Victory is the same breath of fresh air to this artistically-stagnant era of popular music that The Marshall Mathers LP was in 2000.

The thing about "Ridin'" that was so interesting was that it wasn't just a bouncy song brilliantly recorded to be catchy; it was actually about something. Before I heard the track, if you would have told me that a Southern rapper made a song whose chorus repeats the phrase 'ridin' dirty', I certainly would not have expected it to be such a socially aware track. This time, however, Chamillionaire doesn't hide his message behind a catchy buzz-phrase--he just comes out and says it.

This is evident from when you first press play and hear the opening track "The Morning News" in which a surprisingly socially-adept Chamillionaire criticizes everything from the retarded "beef" between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell, to Bill O'Reilly to his shitty rap contemporaries ("hip hop crunk music, hyphy music, snap music/sounds like a nursery rhyme, get a beat and rap to it"). "The Morning News" is good, but later on in the album you hear its follow up, "The Evening News", which is far and away the best lyrically executed song on the album. In "The Evening News," Chamillionaire plays the role of a newscaster dumping just a gigantic bucket-load of truth. After hearing this track you realize just how truth-deprived America has been lately. Cham' even calls the news out on it as it relates to fluctuating gas prices: "well now my cue card says the price of gas isn't really high/but I'm not gonna read that, 'cause we all know that that's a lie."

On the album "The Evening News" is a follow up to "The Morning News". A video for it, however, was released in conjunction with the charmingly upbeat lead single "Hip Hop Police" in which Chamillionaire and surprise (yet perfectly fitting) guest Slick Rick's role play satirize the stigma of being involved with hip hop.

Slick Rick is one of several guest appearances on the album, and he's one of the only one that works out. Bun B and Pimp C both needlessly appear, for some reason, on different tracks (the out-of-place "Pimp Mode" and the decent, yet expendable "Welcome to the South", respectively). Devin the Dude provides a yawner on "Rocky Road", and while Krayzie Bone doesn't do any less than expected on "The Bill Collecta" (an obvious nod to the Bone Thugs N Harmony classic "Mr. Bill Collecta"), the track is an clear attempt to recreate the magic of "Ridin'", with an almost identical (albeit more mellow) beat and of course the presence of Krayzie Bone. It's a failed attempt, as the sung hook is not nearly as entrancing, and where "Ridin'" had a real and socially aware message to it, this song is a shallow one about people paying money back when they borrow it. Not to mention, it's weird that Chamillionaire insists on doing tracks with the guy who basically invented the double-timed harmonic rap technique that he uses (and does it better, with the possible exception that Cham's lyrics are better).

Some guest appearances score, however, such as Lil Wayne, whose verse on not-as-hard-as-you'd-think "Rock Star" (yes it's a ripoff of "Party Like a Rock Star"--it's got much better verses, but not as good a hook) continues this recent trend Lil Wayne has had of murdering people on they own shit. Similarly good verses are heard from Chamillitary labelmate, Famous, whose name is ironic considering that he's virtually unknown outside of the South in both mainstream and underground. All that aside, he spits fairly polished battle-oriented verses on"You Must Be Crazy," which is a simple braggadocios track backed by a surprisingly good East-Coast oriented beat.

Surprising, because the production is generally the worst part of the album. Kane Beatz takes most of the tracks on his shoulders, and rehashes the same synth-heavy rapid-tempo formula over and over again. The Beat Bullies slightly redeem him on "Rock Star" and "Ultimate Vaction" and Happy Perez ends the album on a strong note with the title track "Ultimate Victory" but by then you've heard all of the rest of the boring production.

Fortunately for Chamillionaire, bad production allows for his verses and his hit-or-miss off key sung choruses to shine, and on Ultimate Victory, Chamillionaire is interesting and charismatic enough as a rapper and lyricist (despite his unpolished flow) to keep the album entertaining.

The Report Card

Production: C
A few of the tracks are solid. None of them are straight up bangers, and many of them are yawners. Most of the entertainment from this album comes straight from the rapper himself.

Flow/Lyrics: A-
Chamillionaire has a really underdeveloped and shaky flow, but beyond that he had a lot of cool things to say on this album and he presented it in a unique way.

Originality: B
The originality is solid, with concepts ranging from comparing the love of money to romantic love to role playing as a cop interviewing a suspect to personifying the concept of a groupie and pretending that it's your girlfriend. I just wish Cham' would try more things with his flow and beats than the same rapid delivery and sung chorus.

Overall: B+
Chamillionaire hit it big on his last album, and he deserves respect for continuing to try new things instead of sticking with a boring formula to repeat his cash intake. The result is slightly flawed but still one of the best albums of this year.

Graduation indeed...

Buy Kanye West--Graduation from Amazon!

Despite temper tantrums and a bigger than life ego, there's no denying Kanye West is one of hip hop's premier talents. In the past couple of months, he and 50 cent turned Sept. 11th into one of the most anticipated music release dates in recent memory. Finally after the lame ass faux beef marketing scheme, it's time to hear some music.

Graduation opens with "Good Morning", a minimalistic intro that displays just how much Kanye has grown as a MC from his first album and even has a well placed Jay-z sample. However it lasts just a little bit too long. The next track, "Champion", features typical Kanye-esque production complete with a sped up sample but the chorus has a cool reggae vibe. While that's all well and good, it doesn't tell what Graduation is really about.

Things don't really get interesting until the single "Stronger" comes on. This song is very much a representative of the album as a whole. Futuristic, sonic beats which is a complete departure from the soulful beats Kanye built almost his whole production catalog on. The song brilliantly swagger jacks the Daft Punk song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. While the lyrics and the beat are nothing new when put together the whole sounds extremely refreshing.

Other stand out tracks include "Good Life" featuring T Pain and a creative sample of Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". Of course the single "Can't Tell Me Nothing" kind of featuring Young Jeezy but not really. (The ad-libs are fresh though). "Barry Bonds" contains the obligatory Lil Wanye feature that's pretty much required of every rap album these days.

The only thing that could be viewed as the misstep of the album would be "Drunken Hot Girls" which sounds like a good idea at first solely because Mos Def's on it. But after a few listens you get the joke.

The album's true show of brilliance is "Flashing Lights" featuring Dwele. The beat nothing short than futuristically beautiful. The only blemish is that it doesn't showcase Dwele's singing ability. But the whole's greatness far outweighs any part of the song.

The album closes with "Big Brother" a touching tribute to Jay-z. It's perhaps the most honest song in Kanye's catalog. All the pompous attitude and punchlines aside, it's a song about his idol. It's definitely rare for a rapper to blow up somebody else for a whole song and that's something that deserves some respect.

The Report Card:

Production: A+
Okay first of all, it's Kanye West one of the greatest producers in hip hop. He also employs help from DJ Toomp and Timbaland who are equally as great so of course the production's gonna be hot!

Flow/Lyrics: B
Kanye is not the best rapper but I guarantee you he's better than a lot of clowns that make it on the radio these days. And he's pretty damn funny.

Originality: B+
Most of the album's content isn't anything new but production wise it's new and refreshing.

Overall: A
Seriously, not to sound like a Stan but this album is great. Definitely worth paying for which is say a whole lot.

Recording Albums must be a formality for 50 by now

Buy 50 Cent--Curtis from Amazon!

Formulas are a double-edged sword. They are the telltale mark of a conservative. Conservative people, once they've found a formula that works, stick unflaggingly to the same routine. The problem is that, in a world of formulas, nothing new would ever be created. Even so, 50 Cent's formula of two-to-three half-assed verses and a poorly-sung hook wasn't all that interesting in the first place.

To be fair to 50, by now the actual recording process is most likely just a formality for him. He doesn't make his money by spending a lot of time on making great songs, now does he? He makes his money by keeping himself on the news and selling Vitamin Water. So I hesitate to even review this album, as it's almost unnecessary. But alas, I will. To be fair to 50 though, I'll try to keep it brief.

The intro to Curtis, the third major release from everybody's favorite murderous drug dealer, 50 cent, is a clip from the 2002 film Shooters, which really has nothing to do with 50 Cent or this album, except for the fact that it features a lot of guns. So I'm guessing the intro serves to let us know that 50 Cent likes guns and movies about guns; and that he's probably going to rap about guns.

Well what do you know? The first track is called "My Gun Go Off". It's produced by Adam Deitch and Eric Krasno but the beat is a clear ripoff of a circa-2003 Eminem production. 50 Cent even style-bites his employer a little bit.

The next track "Man Down" is about guns and killing people too. So is the next track, "I'll Still Kill" (not surprisingly). It features Akon, who has the impudence to guest on everything from socially critical tracks with India.Arie, to a song called "Bartender" even though he is an avid non-drinker, to songs about murdering people with 50 Cent. The beat to this sounds a lot like Dre/Eminem as well.

I like "I Get Money", partly because it's the only completely honest song on the album. Being rich is one thing that 50 Cent doesn't have to lie about, and despite 50's trademark laid back flow, you can tell the extreme boost of charisma he has on a song about something he actually participates in currently. Beyond that, the old-school drum rhythm works perfectly with Fiddy's bouncy flow, and the 90's-style sampled hook is a needed departure from the terrible singing that's usually found in his choruses.

Speaking of choruses, Justin Timberlake provides a strange one for "Ayo Technology". 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland should never collab again. Or maybe if they do, they should consider something other than a double-timed song with a beat that sounds like something from an Nintendo game. Also I think this song is about watching pornography, which is kind unique, but also kind of weird.

Strangely enough, the collab with one white-guy-who-does-black-music fails, but the collab with the other white-guy-who-does-black-music kind of works out. "Follow My Lead" featuring Robin Thicke sounds alot of like the previous hit "21 Questions", but that song was good so that's okay, and as we've established anyway, 50's a man of formulas.

More songs about being rich and killing people, and of course "Amusement Park", which is the logical follow up to "Magic Stick" and "Candy Shop" as the obligatory corny double-entendre single. Unlike its predecessors, however, the beat (created by the Dangerous LLC production team) for "Amusement Park" is delightful, and its a shame that it was wasted on such a dumb song.

A lot of the songs sound like the producer was specifically requested to mimic Dr. Dre or Eminem's style; I suppose because that's part of 50's formula. There is a song produced by Eminem though, and one produced by Dr. Dre. The former, "Peep Show" features Eminem on the mic as well, and his verse is the best verse on the album. He actually doesn't try to act "hard" like he usually does when he's within ten feet of 50 cent. On this track he's the psychopath that America fell in love with seven years ago; turning 50's peep show into a "creep show". Dr. Dre's production features Young Buck on the pre-chorus and Nicole Scherzinger (you know, the only Pussycat Doll that's talented). Scherzinger's presence is a welcome break to 50's general monotony, and the combination of her sexy vocals and an authentic Dr. Dre beat gives the song a little boost. Unfortunately 50 Cent still has to rap on it.

Like I said, 50 knows that he doesn't have to be creative, or even interesting (beyond the general appeal of being a guy who used to sell crack and shoot people) to sell records, and Curtis is evidence of that fact, especially considering this album came out two days ago and has sold about a half a million already. And Curtis isn't creative, and not very interesting either. The production is fairly solid, but it pales in comparison to the mostly-Dre produced Get Rich or Die Trying and even The Massacre which featured Eminem, Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, and Hi-Tek among others. Well-produced and interesting tracks like "I Get Money" and "Follow My Lead" help, but overall the album is a snooze-fest.

The Report Card

Production: B
The production is fairly solid. Several of the beats are good, some are even great, and a couple work perfectly with the vocals.

Flow/Lyrics: D
50 has the occasional technical spark, but generally he's about as boring as a rapper could possibly be. He relies heavily on his production for his songs to work. Not to mention his flow is often shaky and his lyrics are mostly shallow and one-dimensional.

Originality: C-
50's production has more depth than most acts', but the vocals, lyrics, and concepts are completely and utterly unoriginal, and to be fair, I'm pretty sure that's on purpose.

Overall: D+
Well we all knew what was going to happen, of course. 50 was going to hire some good producers, write some wack verses about cliche gangsta topics in probably 5-10 minutes, and sell millions of records. That's the music industry for ya'.