Daz – So So Gangsta
So So Def (released Sept. 12, 2006)
Rap
As the last man waving the flag for West Coast gangsta rap, I’ll admit that it’s getting harder and harder to buy”¦listen to”¦and like these albums. I mean, really”¦how many biiatches can these guys f*ck and how many N-words can they bust?
Daz Dillinger followed a curious path to the release of So So Gangsta, signing on with super-producer and Janet Jackson mascot, Jermaine Dupri, last year. The short-lived “rapper relocation program” of the late ’90s didn’t work so well for Snoop Dogg, who left Death Row Records for the No Limit imprint and dropped the universally loathed The Game is to be Sold”¦ album. Mack 10 tried it, too”¦moving from Cali to Mathan Erhardt’s favorite label, Cash Money Records.
Here’s how that turned out.
Daz’s attempt to buck that trend doesn’t, uhh”¦well, it doesn’t get off to a good start.
“Thang On My Hip” is one of those cuts you’d expect to hear from Chappelle’s Show as a satirical lampoon of the standard thug cut. It doesn’t help that the song is tied to the two-minute “intro”, which includes a rant on white girl’s asses. Rachael Ray, notwithstanding, I assume.
And, can anyone explain this Rick Ross Renaissance that’s been going on? He lends nothing of substance to “On Some Real”. Even the efforts that should work seem to fall flat. It’s one thing for Snoop Dogg to mail it in (as he does on “DPG Fo’ Life”), but when the anonymous Soopafly is obviously only in it for the appearance fee, then something’s gone horribly wrong.
(And, just how many times have Daz and/or members of his crew recorded a track called “DPG Fo’ Life”? I swear that this title has appeared on no less than a dozen of their albums.)
There is a little bit of goodness to go ’round, though. The first single, “Weekend” clocks in at under three minutes, but serves as a decent enough jam. Meanwhile, Kurupt shows up on the spliffed-out “Money On My Mind”, with a cool Scott Storch beat. And, not to be outdone, The Kid Slim steals the show on “Dangerous”.
Daz and Jermaine Dupri split the board work and the results are mildly disappointing. Daz eschews his usual bass-heavy, bare bones approach, while Dupri force-feeds softer production under lyrics (like the Jagged Edge assisted “The One”) that aren’t a good fit for anyone.
Daz signed a unique one-album deal, with five one-album “options”. Let’s call it “one and done” and just move on.
Rating: 
