T.I. - Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head

 

Unless you’ve been under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard somehow that T.I. has a new album coming. On his reality show he’s been hyping it, and he’s dropped quite a few lead singles of various types trying to drum up excitement for the album, but nothing so far has really solidified excitement. Nonetheless Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head is here.

Best song without a doubt is Sorry ft. Andre 3000, its probably the best I’ve ever heard TI rap, unfortunately it has Andre on it, because its not even Dre best verse but it so far out shines TI that it seem s as if he doesn’t belong on a song with Andre. The Andre verse will get several rewinds; you may or may not listen to the TI verses again, and ill repeat it’s probably the best of his career.   All of the best songs seem to be tracks with other artist, even despite a few not so great team ups. The Strongest songs and brightest spots on the album are G Season ft. Meek Mill, Wildside ft. A$AP Rocky, Can you Learn ft. R. Kelly, and a possible crossover single Guns and Roses ft. Pink.  Then there is Addresses a heavy diss track that will garner some attention, no names are said, but plenty of subliminals and there is controversy over who’s actually being talked about, we’ll let it all wash out though. It’s a better than average diss track, focused on the lyrics, rather than being a good beat and wack words.  It doesn’t overcompensate by going way over the line, I’m sure the person that it’s about feels some type of way, trust me.

Lacks a true single, although several have been released. Sounds like he’ s attempting to recapture or hold onto his past success by reusing the formulas that worked before, rather than innovating and growing. Right now TI seems stagnant. His music reflects no growth, maturity, or updating. Its as if he’s no longer working at his craft and taking the if it aint broke don’t fix it approach, because his skills, delivery, musicianship, song making ability have not gotten sharper, and some would say have regressed.  It’s a lot of ok punch lines, but not many eyebrow raisers or unexpected ones, expected “ I’m real, I got a lot of money, insert name brand here” braggadocios rhetoric. Based on the skits/ interludes it seems as if the album is supposed to be a concept album, but it lacks the focus to tie it all together and build a central theme throughout.  TI’s strength as always is his, flow and personality, which make the songs listenable, but if you’re a person that focuses heavily on lyrics don’t expect a whole lot.

There is not a lot of excitement or replay value. For this point in his career and for all of the hype and anticipation that was drummed up for this album, more was expected.  The Production is so so, not the quality that was expected for the most part, there are a few head scratcher’s.  I give Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head 3 ½ out of 6 stars

Do we really want an Andre 3000 solo album ?

So the other day I was reading an excellent article about Andre 3000, and how we as hip hop heads want and hope desperately for a solo album, and why we probably wont get it in 2013; and various reasons why he hardly records and or wants to record anymore. But after reading it made me think, as much as we say we want the Andre 3000 solo album, do we really want a solo album or do we really want and prefer an Outkast album? I may stand alone in this, but I’m afraid a Dre solo album will not live up to the hype and extremely high standards we’ve set for it. Think about it, we’ve set an impossible standard that if he delivers anything less than a classic album, we’ll be disappointed. Also think about this, what will be the format of the album? Do we want another Love Below?  Although it was creative and a good album, its not what most of us think of when we think of an Andre solo. It’s not as though we want to just hear his voice. Most of us want to put Andre in a box, and not let him have creative freedom and control of his project, and that’s restrictive for an artist like him. We’re going to want the raw, but not preachy Andre and he may not be in that space creatively for a whole album. And lets be honest its going to be somewhat disappointing, if we don’t get a decent dose of Big Boi on the album, they balance each other out and fit together so well.

Think of other people who have gone solo and how it worked out. Other than Scarface and Ice Cube, who got into solo ventures early in their careers before they could be pigeonholed into a group sound or type of music, who else that is known for being in a group, has it worked out for? Prodigy dropped a gem with HNIC, but most of us honestly loved P’s lyrics and Havocs production so it’s a little different.

As much as we may love individuals in the Wu – Tang Clan, we still always want the group album.  

EPMD – Erick and Parish did solo work but it was never as well received or wanted as much as an EPMD album, their solo stuff never had that extra something an EPMD album had.

Gang Starr – even though  it was one emcee, one dj/producer, when ever Guru did his Jazzmatazz or Bald Head slick projects, they were excellently crafted but they didn’t have the magic of a Gang Starr album.

Little Brother – Phonte, Big Pooh and 9^th have all done their own thing, but we always wanted the group project. Phonte did his thing on the Foreign Exchange, but it wasn’t Little Brother, he dropped a damn near perfect album with Charity Starts at Home and it still wasn’t enough, we wanted the Little Brother sound. We’d have taken a 3 ½ mic Little Brother rather than a probably even better rated Phonte album. IJS

A Tribe Called Quest - If anyone were going to drop a solo album in Tribe, we definitely wanted it to be Q-Tip, I think most would agree with that statement. How’d that work out for him? How’d it work out for us?

If any one was gone drop a solo in Goodie Mob, most would have hoped for Cee-Lo, I personally hoped for Big Gipp, but different issue.  I can say how’d it work for him, but more so how’d it work out for us, the hip hop fans? Cee-Lo has gone a different way, and has crossover success now, but most of his Goodie Mob fans are not his current fans, he has a brand new fan base now.

If ever anyone in The Roots would do a solo we hope its Black Though, but if no Roots track is there it’s gone be a problem.
The List goes on and on was Rakim the same without Eric B? What about C.L. Smooth without Pete Rock?
IJS what we really and truly want is another an Outkast album. Maybe a few songs where Dre gives us two verses or more than 16 bars on a verse. I recently listened to Big Boi’s second solo and it was just missing something, Dre. Even though it had the quirky weird beats and crazy subject matter, it didn’t have Dre in any form. And it almost seemed as if with the crazy quirkiness, Big Boi was trying to compensate for both of them. Its his new album that made me appreciate Outkast so much more than ever, because Big Boi brought the soul, funk, pimptatsic style and shined in that role and Dre brings the outside the box stuff and shines at that, and when put together, perfection. So no more solos, ok you can do solos, but work together and please give us the group album. Sincerely, the fans.

Game - Jesus Piece / Big Boi - Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors

 

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Game Jesus Piece is consistently Game. While it doesn’t wow, it’s not classic, but it’s good. In fact there are a lot of things that can be said about the album some that may sound like complaints. For instance, Jesus Piece is heavy on collaborations, so much to the fact that it sounds like a compilation album or a mix tape, more so than a solo album. Game seems to feed off the energy and be influenced by others in the studio this time around. In all honesty, he gets out rapped and delivered a few times.  He plays around with a few different deliveries and makes a few different types of songs, but that’s the depth of his experimentation and self challenge, lyrically and musically there is no real growth. It also has a few moments that will be considered sacrilegious. 

Its still a good album though, the production team and the song making ability are the sellers on this album. The producers (Black Metaphor, Cool & Dre, Boi -1da, Jake One, etc.)  do a great and absolute wonderful job of giving Game the perfect beats for him to do his thing on.  Although there are a lot of collaborations, their aren’t any forced or out of the ordinary ones, the chemistry is key. There are at least two songs that if they don’t get heavy radio play it should be criminal, “Celebration “ ft. Chris Brown, Tyga, Lil Wayne & Wiz Khalifa, which takes the Bone Thugs-N- Harmony classic 1^st of the Month, and flips it and gives it new life, its begging for a remix.  Then there is “All That (Lady)" featuring Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Fabolous & Jeremih, which flips the classic song Lady by D’Angelo. Both are straight fire. And then there are other hitters Scared Now ft. Meek Mill,  “Ali Bomaye” ft. 2 Chainz & Rick Ross,  “Jesus Piece” ft. Kanye & Common. He also has stand out tracks with J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Pusha T. 

For all of the complaints about the album, it still is a very good album, one of if not his best. While it wont be a classic or in the discussion for best of the year, it has the potential to be a great seller and get plenty radio play, entertainment value is high, and replay value is high. I give The Game. Jesus Piece a strong 4 ½ out of 6 stars

After listening to Big Boi’s second solo album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors   there was something noticeably missing, Dre. Even though it had the quirky weird beats and crazy subject matter, it didn’t have Dre, or his influence in any form. And it almost seemed as if with the crazy quirkiness, Big Boi was trying to compensate for both of them. Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors has its moments but its not Big Boi at his best, the chemistry and creativeness we’re accustomed to, is just no where to be found, his personality shines through tho. Everything that we know and love about Big Boi can be said about this album, he gives us a variety of flows, creativity, and under appreciated lyricism and style.

The problem is the high level and expectations that we’re accustomed to are never met. Stand out tracks are “Apple of My Eye”, “Objectum Sexuality” ft. Phantogram,  “In The A” ft. T.I & Ludacris, which is decent but nobody lays a stellar verse or even a standout verse, all three rappers have delivered way better verses, and we’re left wanting way better quality from artist of this skill level and magnitude. “Raspberries” ft. Mouche & Scar is cool but its not a song to be taken serious, its basically a long interlude for them to cut up over a beat.  Another one of the better tracks is “Gossip” ft. UGK & Big K.R.I.T.  Probably the song on the album a song for sure that will get strip club play, because its too vulgar for anywhere else is “She Said Ok”. Its pimped out soulful, its fits Big Boi.  Unfortunately the rest of the album is blah, the songs are honestly, emotionally neutral, they don’t elicit a response from me when listening to them, They aren’t good, they aren’t bad, I don’t like them, I don’t hate them. When I hear them they are kind of just on in the background. If Big Boi is going to continue to make solo joints, he’s going to have to develop a sound or cater to the sound that best fits him.

This new album that made me appreciate Outkast so much more than ever, because Big Boi brought the soul, funk, pimptatsic style and shined in that role and Dre brings the outside the box stuff and shines at that, and when put together, perfection. So no more solos, ok you can do solos, but work together and please give us the group album. Sincerely the fans.  The first Solo Big Boi album was better than expected, but this one is just ok by our standards for Big Boi, Dungeon family, Outkast, etc. I give the Big Boi Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors    a weak 3-½ out of 6 stars rating. It’s kind of a disappointment.