Veteran rappers produce different results
Warren G and Master P share more in common
than a single letter for a last name.
Having been in the industry for at least
three albums each, both are veteran rap artists, always looking for ways
to expand their audience base while keeping their current fans.
Long Beach-native Warren G plays to his
strengths with his newest release "I Want It All."
After a spectacular debut album "Regulate
… G Funk era," which sold nearly three million copies, the Long Beach native
stumbled with his uneven gold selling sophomore effort, "Take A Look Over
Your Shoulder."
His third effort, on Restless/G-Funk Records,
finds the producer and rapper using less experimentation with different
sounds and sticking to simple yet effective funk instrumentals.
"I Want It All" features cozy keyboards,
melodic synthesizers and relaxing mid-tempo drums.
The album's light mood, while at times
a little lethargic and repetitive, generally entertains with its happy-go-lucky
sprit.
Warren also adds to the album's tone with
his signature easygoing lyrical delivery.
Songs such as the Nate Dogg, RBX and Kurupt
assisted "Gangsta Love," with its sing-along chorus to "Why Oh Why," with
the aggressive Dogg Pound providing the knockout punch to the friendly
rhythmic keyboards entertain with style.
And despite the inclusion of guests on
nearly every song, Warren G still comes through as the album's obvious
star.
Even the album's missteps, such as the
poorly produced "My Momma (Ola Mae)," or the ho-hum quality of "World Wide
Riders" with Neb Love and K-Bar of 5 Footaz, can't completely stop the
album's momentum.
"Only God Can Judge Me" should be Master
P's advice to disappointed listeners.
And his newest album on his No Limit Record
label, "Only God Can Judge Me," is generally a slow, painful listen. Usually,
Master P puts together a formulaic yet entertaining reality rap album with
too many 2pacish vocal inflections.
Some of his past albums, "Ice Cream Man,"
"Ghetto D" or even the uneven quality of 1998's "MP Da Last Don" would
pulsate with their ear pounding bass and P's loud, throaty delivery.
His Southern -- specifically, New Orleans
-- viewpoint of gangs, drugs and killings (with small amounts of social
consciousness thrown in) were a guilty pleasure.
Sure, the topics have been articulated
better with a little more originality.
But Master P had the right amount of charisma
and charm to propel him to the top of the rap pile.
Unfortunately, Master P seems to have lost
his desire. "Only God Can Judge Me" feels like an artist's sophomore failure
instead of a multi-album veteran.
Songs such as the scratch heavy first single
"Step To Dis" and "Ghetto Honeys" (with its ho-hum chorus of "I like to
smoke weed/and I love to make money/but I/can't live without you beautiful
ghetto honeys") add nothing but blandness to the album.
On "Ghetto In The Sky," which has P asking
"[if] the police really protect and serve/and why it ain't no crackhouses
in the suburb" his sentiments get ruined by an uninteresting, snail-paced
instrumental.
Much of the album's production seems to
consist of monotonous bass and drum sounds with a slightly different synthesized
melody for each song.
Even the Jermaine Dupri assisted "Da Ballers,"
with its catchy yet simple sounding backdrop, manages to get derailed by
the song's short length.
The guests on "Only God Can Judge Me,"
which include Dupri, Nas, Mystikal, Magic and other No Limit Records artists,
also don't add much to the uninspired soundscape.
While Warren G gives an inspired effort
and wins, however, Master P needs to reevaluate what works and what doesn't
to get back to the top. |
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