C-Bo droppings make dirty mess

CD REVIEW

By Rodd Cayton, On-line Forty-Niner

March 24,1998

What would you do if you had a ton of $100 bills?

If you were C-Bo, you'd spend it on expensive cars, jewelry and women. You'd also buy a great deal of marijuana. Oh, and some firearms to protect it all.

The question is raised, and answered, on the song "Money by the Ton," from rapper C-Bo's latest album, "Til My Casket Drops" (AWOL/Noo Tribe).

C-Bo seems to think the listener will be impressed by his knowledge of different types of weapons, Vipers, 'Vettes and Lamborghinis, which, one is led to believe, are essential in the part of Sacramento, where the rapper hails from.

"Til My Casket Drops," despite a host of co-performers and a number of producers, does nothing to make the listener want to part with even its $11.99 sale price.

There are but two songs on the album that deserve a second listen. One of them, "Deadly Game," is a street-level glance at California's "three-strikes" law, and ".357" is told from the point of view of a pistol, which admits it can be both friend and foe to its owner.

The album's major flaw is that C-Bo seems to have been hell-bent on imitating 2Pac. Not the great 2Pac of the early days, but the post-commercial 2pac who didn't confine his acting to the movies.

The album is at the center of a controversy surrounding the rapper, who was released from state prison on parole last summer (he was convicted of a weapons charge), on the condition that he "Not record music that promotes gang violence or the gang lifestyle."

On "No Pain No Gain," C-Bo pretty much admits a parole violation, by naming what seems to be every street gang in California.

Yeah, real good stuff. One-half star out of five.