Plenty of folks thought the Boyz
N’ Da Hood’s self-titled debut in 2005 would be their last after the star of
the show in Young Jeezy left to pursue a solo career of adlibbing. Barely
believable rumors followed that the Snowman would be replaced by Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross, or fellow
trapper turned rapper T.I. While switching
up members more times than Destiny’s
Child in a rap group can cause problems, Boyz N’ Da Hood did alright this time around settling with Gorilla Zoe.
The album starts off with Bite-Down,
a hot beat with not much else going for it. The concept is eh, and with
elementary lyrics and flow leaves a lot to be desired. Say What’s On Your
Mind is fight music at its best; with the beat and the hook letting all
haters know it can go down at any second, everybody will be ready to scrap. Nothing
Is Promised, featuring Yung Joc
makes no sense at all, and as I’m sure you have already guessed, lacks in the
lyrics department. We Ready, gets the job done though, with a nice hook
and decent verses.
Choppa’s, featuring Ice Cube, has the triple OG showing the young boys how it’s
don’t over a hard hitting beat. Block Boyz is a hard track with Grand Hustle’s latest protégé
delivering the strongest performance but nothing much of note in the lyrics
department. We Ridin is about as cliché as they come, recycling the same
themes everyone uses with painful mediocrity. Paper however, is a
standout track featuring Rick Ross.
Talking paper is what Mr. Ross does best (aside from talking blow of course), and
he most definitely delivers on this track with his commanding presence.
Back Up In Da Chevy is not
good. At all. Beat is weak, hook is weak, lyrics are weak, enough said. Table
Dance, a tribute to, well, table dances, is another original concept.
Thankfully though, it is the hottest song on the album. With all the members on
point plus the hook king and master of the strip club songs himself, T-Pain, working the track, this joint
can’t help but be hot. It’s not everyday that the “chick song” on an album is
actually good. We Thuggin is also pretty good despite another cliché played
more than your xbox, with lyrics being stepped up over a slowed down beat.
While the lyrics aren’t exactly introspective, they do seem to show ability and
growth on behalf of all the members.
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Overall, this album is painfully
average, which pretty much makes it bad. Song concepts are weak and lyrics
could definitely use a tune-up. Though you have no business listening to this
crew if you’re after lyrical prowess, the beats aren’t good enough to excuse the
shortcoming. Bad Boy South label mate
Yung Joc is unceremoniously featured
on three tracks but as far as guest appearances go everybody did their thing
from Alfa Mega, to Cube, to Ross. Like I said before Gorilla
Zoe is a decent addition, fitting in well with the rest of the crew but not
making them any better. If you are already a Boyz N’ Da Hood fan you’re probably gonna have this in your hands
already, but for anyone else, a few songs will give you all you need to hear.
