Tha boss beotch is in the hiz haus my peeps! Booyah! The title alone sets the tone for me. Before even listening I’m imagining it as angry rap/hip hop by a never was but thinks she is. I also can tell that probably 95% of the songs I’ll be listening to will have her name in them – I hate that. It’s like a bad subliminal messaging ad thing. Say your name enough and they’ll never forget. I will commence the listening and keep my slang to a minimum.
I always love intros on Rap albums. It’s the same old self-gratifying crap you hear from everyone else. They talk about being known when you’ve never heard of them, they name drop people they’ve never met, spout of creds you can’t verify – blah blah blah and for whatever reason there is someone you don’t know actually doing the singing.. er.. talking in the case of Rap or spoken word is the PC version.
Nina B Count: 6
Website/Myspace/Label Plug: 2
Ahhh.. the usual “Let’s rip off someone with talent” – a cover of “Come Together” sampled out the butt and re-mastered with more self-gratifying stuff. I’m sorry John Lennon.. truly. Lyrics were tight, yo. Music not badly mixed in there either.
Nina B Count: 2
Website/Myspace/Label Plug: 1
I don’t want to say I hate Rap or Hip-Hop. I don’t. I like a lot of it. It’s very lyrical and very fluent. I get that with “Stick Em Up”. I just think it’s trite to constantly brand yourself in the lyrics. To me it’s funny – hence my tally board. I like this song quite a bit. I could have an “N” word or “F” word count too..
Nina B Count: 6
Website/Myspace/Label Plug: 1
“Can’t Stop” is a self-anthem of never stopping despite the hurdles in your way. It’s an admirable song. Still very tight, catchy and got some hard pounding music. I like it a lot actually.. no playin.
Nina B Count: 6
Website/Myspace/Label Plug: 1
Fervent lyrics, rushed, raw and all around bad ass “You” is tight and shows some serious style with the lyrics, musical arrangements and beats I can’t complain about it. This song may actually make me a fan of RAP at this rate.
Nina B Count: 3
Website/Myspace/Label Plug: 1
I think I’ve found my favorite song: “Grind”. It’s got some smoking guitar lyrics, fast lyrics that grab you by the hair and it just all flows. Serious skills, talent, props – if this could actually be played on the radio I’d listen to it.
Nina B Count: 7
Great instrumentals and solid lyrical licks make this album a winner. I enjoyed it despite not being a real fan of the genre. I guess that would mean a real fan of the music would fall over it. Songs like “The Bosstress” and “Where Brooklyn At” really stand out for me. “Locked Up 2” combines great vocals with spoken word skill. “Memory Lane” is a favorite of mine as it takes me back as a child of the 80’s mentioning all the crap I forgot I remembered. Ha! Schoolhouse rock kicks ass! Whoot! “Hip Hop History” is a great musical lesson on the history of Hip Hop and is just an all around great song with some great memories attached to it.
I don’t dislike Rap. I like a lot of hip-hop. I don’t like repetition of props and branding yourself. It’s silly and a waste. This CD is pretty damn awesome with heavy hitting guitar, powerful lyrics and great beats. I can poke fun all I want to, but at the end of the day this CD is tighter than.. well, I won’t go there Jeff Foxworthy. In any case it’s a solid 9 out of 10. Limit the self-sucking up. You don’t need it. It’s called Nina B and not Nina B and Friend. If you do the pie chart I think Nina actually performs 40% of the content. And damn – how many people can you give props to? If they get famous you may owe them royalties.
Final Tallies
Personal Name Dropping: 59
Self-Advertising Plugs: 18
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More Information
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http://www.ninab.wordpress.com
http://www.ravenelrecords.com
http://www.icanmakeyoufamous.com
http://www.myspace.com/ravenelrecords
http://www.thestreetspace.com/ninab
http://www.myspace.com/thegagorder
http://www.myspace.com/icanmakeyoufamous
