Lil Blacky “Big Ballin”
Lil Blacky “Big Ballin” Hit A Lick
Records While those who have the latest album by Lil
Blacky may never know whether the homie is squatting in front of a
family van or a low rider in the cover photo of the CD, they will
know that some of the most hard hitting rhymes out there are coming
from a little vato who represents the Inland Empire. So the CD
cover may look a little cheesy, but for what its worth, “Big
Ballin” isn’t half bad. First thing’s first: the
beats are a bit dated, but who’s going to complain when the
featured rapper looks so young he just might be Kris Kross’s
kid brother? Sounding like a mix of old Coolio beats and wannabe
Parliament bass lines, “Big Ballin” is equipped with
enough sultry feminine choruses and call-and-response shout-outs to
almost rank with the best hip-hop albums out there. That is, if it
were released six or seven years ago. While the background may at
times reek of cheese, Lil Blacky does have some incredibly tight
tracks, including his laid back “Some Body Please.” The
song is a description of the difficulties of being a gangster:
“I’m 17 now I’m trying to leave the game/and
banging isn’t the same/since the taste of fame.” What
makes the song so good is Lil Blacky’s tasteful mix of old
school melodies with honest, revealing lyrics. This type of song
can only bring to mind another famous Latin rap name ““ the
mainstream posse, A Lighter Shade of Brown. However, don’t
expect any radio-friendly ditties on “Big Ballin.”
Although Lil Blacky may not be old enough to go buy himself a
“˜40,’ his lyrics sound like they are coming from
someone who’s a veteran in the rap game. Another song that
truly exemplifies Lil Blacky’s tight skills is “Chosen
Few.” The track features a circus of other relatively unknown
rappers (Pops, Hectic, Lil Sicko, and Ambrosia), but the raw angst
in the song can only come from such an angry posse of esoteric
lyricists. He may only be 19, and may only sport peach fuzz for
facial hair, but Lil Blacky just might be the next big thing from
the Latino hip-hop world. With his tight rhymes and his brand-less
car, Lil Blacky has entered the rap scene, and the G is here to
stay.
Antero Garcia Rating: 6
The Chieftains “Water from the Well” RCA
Records Irish airline Aer Lingus is going to seriously
hate this album. Looking to go to Ireland dirt cheap? Don’t
pay the $1,000 it would cost to fly over there, just pick up the
latest disc from the Emerald Isle’s most famed
traditionalists and take a pleasant little tour of the land. While
some purists may thumb their noses at Paddy Moloney’s band of
folksters, for the casual fan, the Chieftains will do just fine.
And on “Water from the Well” things sound simply
smashing. Marrying the infectious rhythms of jigs and reels with a
crisp, fresh feeling, the album is an excellent door opener to the
world of Irish music. Not that this is a terrible surprise, seeing
as how Moloney has enlisted the heavyweights of Irish folk to back
things up. With luminaries like fiddler Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh on
hand to help out, the collection of 17 classic tunes comes across
as a winner. The cameos don’t stand out like a pop all-star
album, with instantly recognizable voices or instruments stealing
the spotlight, but rather unite to make an excellently combined
package. As a result, the songs are balanced and focused, sounding
like the work of a band together for decades, rather than cobbled
together for a single album. Then again, since Moloney and the
other Chieftains have been plying their trade since the ’60s,
they know a thing or two about keeping a tune together. Relaxing
one moment, energetic the next, “Water from the Well”
is a good buy for those looking to tiptoe into the folksy side of
Ireland. Though it’s not quite as authentic as actually
packing up and heading there to explore firsthand, the album is a
pleasant way to get a slice of the culture without the hassles of
travel.
Brent Hopkins Rating: 8
Various Artists “Strait Up” Immortal
Records A tribute album featuring the likes of Brandon
Boyd of Incubus, Jonathan Davis of Korn, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit
and Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray seems like it couldn’t help but
be good. Unfortunately, even though a few songs on “Strait
Up” are excellent, too many are mediocre for it to be a
must-have. The album is a posthumous tribute to James Lynn Strait,
the lead singer of the hardcore band Snot, who died in a car crash
in December 1998. Snot wrote the music on the album before
Strait’s death, and intended it for its second
album. The featured vocalists on “Strait Up” wrote
their own lyrics. In most cases, the lyrics are touching,
thoughtful remembrances of a friend. Often, and rather
unfortunately, they are screamed so hoarsely that there is no
chance of understanding them without reading along in the liner
notes. A notable exception is Boyd’s “Divided (An
Argument for the Soul),” which is outstanding both as a
eulogy and as a song. The quality and clarity of Boyd’s voice
make this the best song on the album. “Divided” and the
following track, “Angel’s Son,” create a needed
break from the surrounding hard rock, and capture the major themes
in “Strait Up.” The grief over Strait’s early
death and the confidence that his soul is still with the band
permeate these two songs. In contrast, Durst’s contribution,
“Forever,” is a disappointment. With only six lines of
lyrics that fall emotionally short of those written by other
artists on the album, the song sounds like a tortured version of
“Rollin’,” his current hit with Limp Bizkit.
“Reaching Out” featuring McGrath, on the other hand,
doesn’t even sound distantly related to his group Sugar Ray.
That’s because he co-wrote the lyrics with four other people,
who also acted as additional vocalists. Between the five of them,
they created a decent, though unexceptional song. In fact, several
of the songs on the album are unexceptional, which is its biggest
problem. Given the considerable talent of those who worked on
“Strait Up” it falls short of its potential.
Mary Williams Rating: 6