Have I mentioned how weak a year it’s been for quality rap music? And speaking of “weak”…The reader request mailbag was burstin’ at the seams practically beggin’ me to give Chingy’s debut a listen. “I guarantee you’ll like it”, they said. “He’s a million times better than Nelly”, they said. I would think after all we’ve been through…from the highs of The Goodness to the lows of…well, these guys, I would’ve thought that I could trust your opinions. Jesus, how wrong I was.
Let’s get the praise outta the way, right now. The beats by the Trak Starz are actually, by and large, better than you’ll find on most Midwest or Down South albums. None of them are great, but I found myself noddin’ to more than a few of the tracks…usually right before Chingy starts spittin’. And that ends the positive portion of our review.
Chingy starts out Jackpot with a track called He’s Herre. It’s two strikes out of the gate, though, as his exaggerated St. Louis drawl hasn’t been “original” since 1999 when Nelly hit it big and the production completely overwhelms his “Rap 101” lyrical work. Still, much like most of Nelly’s cuts, the song is ultimately a harmless and inoffensive throwaway track.
What y’all might find offensive are a pair of tracks that serve no other purpose than to push the tired pimp n’ ho genre to new lows. Wurrs My Cash might be the worst four minutes put on wax this year. My words can’t do it justice, so here are a few bars from Chingy, himself:
Ho, Wurrs My Cash?
(Got his money ho?)
You don’t have it?
(You trippin’ girl)
Am I gon’ slap you? Uh huh
Sling that ass
(Sling it for a n!gga girl)
Those are just the first seven lines of the opening chorus. Get closer to the screen and see if you can smell the verbal excrement from a few more lyrics:
Girl you too shy to speak then take a breather
Can you dig this?
Lick when I piss (Well Alright)
It goes on like this, in an annoying singsong style, for what feels like an eternity. And just when you think he pumped that well dry…he comes back on Juice with even more of his ho-filled wordplay. See, when he says “juice”, the context is “Juicin’ these hoes”.
Give Chingy credit for this much: He has the balls to come outta the gutter long enough to drop One Call Away. Y’all know how I feel about the rappin’ love song and this one’s just as sh!tty as the others. The kindergarten lyrics and syrupy hook are nothin’ more than a transparent effort to reach out to the radio-friendly market in the hopes of pocketing a few more coins for the extra rotation.
If y’all spend enough time with this album, I guarantee you’ll find something you won’t like. Insipid skits? He got that. Overwrought materialism? Yep, check out Madd @ Me. The requisite single that makes a huge splash, until it’s played every 20 minutes on your local urban FM to the point that you’re now sick of it? Right Thurr. Racial slurs? Uh huh. Unless it suddenly became acceptable to describe someone’s eyes as “chinky”. Not to be confused with “Chingy”…he’s the fool that gave us this mess.
