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| Juelz Santana- From Me To U: Santana goes it alone after debuting as part of the Diplomats crew on DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY. Here he steers clear of that crew's obsession with drugs, guns, and money--well, at least the drugs and guns part. The key here is the keyboard-inflected "Why," where Santana runs down the reasons he's in the game, like watching ROCKY III when he was "a tiny little poppy seed, as grimy as I could be," and comes as close as any rapper ever gets to waxing philosophical about his life and motives. Furthermore "My Problem (Jealousy)"finds him apologizing for hitting his girlfriend, and getting into sticky relationship details to boot. FROM ME TO U is, therefore, no ordinary gangsta rap collection, and while Santana's flow might not be up to that of some of his contemporaries just yet, there's enough evidence here to point to some considerable talent lurking beneath the bravura. 7 OUT OF 10 |
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| Ludacris- Chicken N' Beer: In the year leading up to the release of his third disc, CHICKEN & BEER, Ludacris' distinguished drawl could be heard all over the radio on commanding guest appearance after guest appearance, most notably on Missy Elliott's smash "Gossip Folks." Not that he needed any more airplay--his first two major releases already had the Georgian rapper well established as one of the most accomplished Dirty South crossover acts. CHICKEN & BEER is an apt title for the ravenously hungry record with few moments of sobriety, as Ludacris unleashes his most gentle of furies. In "Southern Fried Intro," he unabashedly admits to throwing all styles, even pop, into his musical stew, before firing the full-out assault of "Blow It Out," a measured, righteous, anthemic response to his doubters and detractors, including an on-point slap at talk show host Bill O'Reilly over their much-chronicled Pepsi flap. He then switches to seduction of the most swaggering brand on the hook-laden, dance-floor bound "Stand Up." As with Eminem, the way he allows his goofiness to take sway, it's easy to forget his similarly supreme ability as a wordsmith, but this forgotten secret to his success is evident throughout CHICKEN & BEER, another appealing record from the Dirty South icon. 9 OUT OF 10 |
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| T.I.- Trap Muzik: Trap Muzik is the second offering from the man called T.I.. He represents the BANKHEAD section of Atlanta. And for his sophmore album, T.I. definetly steps up his game. He starts off the album by letting us know why he named it Trap Muzik, the song is appropriate as the first track but it lacks a lot fire. But then the second song called "I can't quit" really captures your attention and will make you realise that T.I. is a young man determined to make it in this Biz. From then on you will be served beats and rhymes that sound fresh and tight. This album has been bumbing in my car system since August and i have no intentions of taking it out anytime soon. I would recommend this album to any hip hop fan from the east to west. T.I. is not an average rapper from the south, he claims to be the King of the South. And with songs like "Be easy", "Doin' my job" and "I still luv you" and "T.I. v.s. T.I.P." it won't be long before the title King of the south is anonymous with his name. 8 OUT OF 10 |