E-40's second studio album. The production is handled by Mike Mosley, Sam Bostic, Kevin Gardner, Studio Ton, Eugenius, Redwine, Funk Daddy and Samuel Stevens. Guests are B-Legit, Suga T, Mac Shon, 2Pac, Mac Mall, Spice 1, Leviti, Celly Cel and Lil E, son of E-40.
The music is influenced by g-funk from LA, maintaining its own Bay Area mobb soul: midtempo drums, dry, harsh, accessible shrill synths, cheerful mobb samples, heavy bass lines. The choice behind keyboards isn't always excellent, and sometimes appears cheap and simplistic, nonetheless, overall, the project turns out to be much more solid and coherent than it might seem, thanks to the talent of the E-40.
Lyrically, he focuses on crime, drugs, alcohol, materialism, violence, women, braggadocio, while his rapping style is peculiar and inspired, he delivers bars with an eclectic delivery, extremely fluid, quick, fresh, lively, tight, and with a slang of his own, which allows him to keep the listener's attention even when the quality of the music drops, in the second half of the album. Guests do a good job, one of the best tracks features 2Pac, Mac Mall and Spice 1 in the same track: they all boast a good velvet and energetic flow, accompanied by the hook of Suga T and Levitti, both uncredited.
Consisting of 16 tracks, 4 skits and about an hour of listening, the album is released by Jive Records and Sick Wid It, reaching the top 15 among pop records and second place in the rap chart. It's certified gold in three months, platinum seven years later. Ultimately, it's the best album released by E-40, it boasts an excellent first section, and a less strong second part, still quite solid with a relaxed and positive mood. Among the West Coast finest records.
Highlights: "Da Bumble", "Sideways", "Spittin'", "Sprinkle Me", "Dusted 'n' Disgusted", "It's All Bad".
Rating: 8.4/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment