Within months of fellow G-Unit member Lloyd Banks' debut The Hunger for More(read review), Interscope Records released the debut album of Southern G-Unit rapper Young Buck. Southern rappers were at the top of the charts in 2004, and G-Unit's own stock was at an all-time high as well. The newest addition to 50 Cent's group had already impressed hip-hop fans with his strong verses on 2003's Beg for Mercy (read review), as well as his mixtape appearances and laid-back country flow, and thus, there was considerable anticipation for Straight Out of Cashville.
The album does not sound like a typical G-Unit album. Sure, the Unit (50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and The Game) put in their requisite appearances here as do other extended Aftermath Records family guests like DPG, Kon Artis (of D12) and Stat Quo. But there are other guests: David Banner and Lil Flip on the eerie Welcome to the South, Ludacris on the menacing Stomp, and D-Tay on Taking Hits. Typically G-Unit album instrumentals borrow rather liberally from all regions, but Straight Out of Cashville's also more Southern sonically than not. And remarkably the G-unit members weave themselves seamlessly into this southern tapestry - 50 Cent with his own laid-back flow, Banks and Yayo toning down their own deliveries for the excellent Prices on My Head and Bonafide Hustler respectively, and The Game's natural abrasiveness complementing Ludacris and Young Buck's vociferous verses on Stomp perfectly. Even Kon Artis manages to bring some Southern soul to the hook of the album's most personal track Look at Me Now.
The album does not sound like a typical G-Unit album. Sure, the Unit (50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and The Game) put in their requisite appearances here as do other extended Aftermath Records family guests like DPG, Kon Artis (of D12) and Stat Quo. But there are other guests: David Banner and Lil Flip on the eerie Welcome to the South, Ludacris on the menacing Stomp, and D-Tay on Taking Hits. Typically G-Unit album instrumentals borrow rather liberally from all regions, but Straight Out of Cashville's also more Southern sonically than not. And remarkably the G-unit members weave themselves seamlessly into this southern tapestry - 50 Cent with his own laid-back flow, Banks and Yayo toning down their own deliveries for the excellent Prices on My Head and Bonafide Hustler respectively, and The Game's natural abrasiveness complementing Ludacris and Young Buck's vociferous verses on Stomp perfectly. Even Kon Artis manages to bring some Southern soul to the hook of the album's most personal track Look at Me Now.
- Straight Out of Cashville, Young Buck's debut is among the best G-Unit releases.
Comments
This was truly an underappreciated CD. It kind of surprised me, because out of all of them I thought Buck was the weakest link. But he came through for real. I'm about to put it on right now.
:-)
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