It seems like everybody from the left coast either wants to sound like Snoop, work with Snoop or get into some kind of beef with Snoop.
Inglewood’s Shade Sheist falls somewhere in between the former two. His 2001 hit “Where I Wanna Be” gave us hints as to what we should be expecting from his debut album, Informal Introduction: smooth beats to bump in your Impala; drug- and sexcapade-filled verses to generate street cred; a near-comatose flow to appear like a G for the ladies. That’s pretty much what he gives listeners on the 16 tracks, but it doesn’t translate well for Shade. On only one cut- the smooth, Nate Dogg-backed “The Urban Gospel,” do all three aforementioned factors come together.
Fabolous–Damn, he’s everywhere these days!–can’t even get “Act Lyke You Know” to say anything. Neither can DJ Quik and a flurry of piano keys on “John Doe.” Timbaland’s box of Playstation 2 noises does nothing for “Money Owners.” On the elementary “And Think About It,” Shade admits to being “hated on since Pre-K.” Hell, we see why: Dude rhymes like he’s still there.
Shade’s simple, near-unintelligible flow won’t give you many opportunities to enjoy Introduction’s impressive Pacific coast production, or take anything about him too seriously.
