As your primary source for rap music reviews here at Inside Pulse, I’ve been fortunate to have listened to some very good (even great) albums and happily provided my recommendation to add them to your collections. I’ve also been subjected to some truly miserable efforts from artists, who either take themselves too seriously or try’n channel the spirit of a dead man. Never before have I sat and listened to an entire album and felt like I had actually lost brain cells by the end of the final track.
The Hot Boys are comprised of New Orleans-based rappers Juvenile, B.G., Turk and Lil’ Wayne. You may not know much about the group, but they’ve all had a fair amount of mainstream success, both as individual artists and as a group. Specifically, joints like Back That Ass Up, Bling, Bling and #1 Stunnas (which was actually a Big Tymers track, but work with me) found a wide audience. A few years ago, B.G. left the label to battle a heroin addiction and Juvenile had a falling out with the group over (what else) money. I think Turk left, too, but I can’t be bothered to care why. This album was actually completed in 2000 and has only now seen the light of day.
Let ‘Em Burn is the equivalent of 50 whiskey shots. We all know that booze (save for light beer) is a wonderful and magical beverage, but there comes a point when the deliciousness turns on you. At the end of the night, you’re a staggering, slurring, drooling shell of a man and the next morning, you awake in a pool of your own vomit. That’s how I feel right now.
The first two tracks on the album let you know exactly what ground is gonna be covered throughout. My Section is typical Cash Money posturing on defending their turf (I’ve been to New Orleans and y’all can have it). Stick & Move is a dumbed-down tutorial on how to stay ahead of the police who dare to try’n break up your drug runnin’. The highlight of the latter is the hysterically bad lyricism (trust me, it gets worse) from Juvy who moves around “like some ants in my pants”.
Isn’t it funny how a really tight verse and a really awful one will make you want to listen to it again? Rewind buttons around the world will be getting a workout here. Just try’n tell me that the hook for 3 Strikes isn’t the worst hook ever. Yes, even worse that Xzibit’s Symphony in X Major. Here’s a gem from Lil’ Wayne on Young Riders:
” Now watch how I make my bullets spread like gingivitis”.
Ah, but “Lil’ Weezy” goes one step further and drops what is truly one of the worst verses in hip hop history. Sit back and enjoy some of his bars from Up In Tha Hood.
“It’s Young Carter
f*ck wit’ me and I fix mo’ wigs than a beauty parlor
And due to all the controversy that circles my clique
I’m liable to click out at any time and murder a bitch
I blaze block flows at ‘cha dome Paco
I let one shot go and watch hot sauce leak out ‘cho taco
And y’all can trust my niggaz – while I’m here, I’m a living legacy
And I gotta eat like a bitch when in pregnancy, definitely”
The album’s worst moments (we’re just now gett’in to those) are when the Boys leave their own unoriginal and uninspired themes for those of others. Spin Tha Bend uses a familiar Western movie theme for its bridge, while These Hoes lifts the concept of “Hoes & Housewives” from Dr. Dre, Kurupt and the hundreds of others rappers who’ve previously been there and done that.
