With a wild cast of campaigners like Fat Joe, Just Blaze, and Jazzy Jeff, Dave Ghetto's debut album is all kinds of wonderful. The Camden MC talks real slow, but he’s quick with the metaphors, and more empathetic than preachy. Yes, he says on "The Game," "I’m tired of the kids who destroy and don’t build." But he’s more focused on "the seeds who can’t read but know the Ten Crack Commandments." Ghetto understands the power of narrative, and he paints his home town in Jersey with contrasting hues, juxtaposing his position as an elder with the plight of the boys on the corner. He fills the lead single, "Hey, Young World, Pt. 2," with entreaties, begging for peace from "these young cats with hammers who be wilin’ in the streets." Not that he’s so socially responsible (or complicated) he can’t denounce Cee-Lo’s catcalls on "Groupie Sex." Everybody loves a little moral tension, right?
Related:
Basstown tales, Kickin' it, Sleepy Brown, More 
- Basstown tales
As Boston goes, the origin stories of superstar DJs are few and far between.
- Kickin' it
What makes a pair of sneakers ultra exclusive?
- Sleepy Brown
One third of the legendary Organized Noise production team, and best known for guesting on the upbeat, brilliant-if-overplayed “The Way You Move” from Big Boi, Sleepy Brown is no Pharrell muscling in on the real talents at the mic.
- On the racks: August 15, 2006
. . . plus mothafuckin' snakes
- Freeway
The Philly native isn’t the popster they hoped he would be.
- The Big Hurt: A healthy death
A member of the recently reunited BACKSTREET BOYS — the really Christian one who looks like the Beast from that 1980s Beauty and the Beast TV show — has swine flu. That doesn't even come close to being sufficient punishment for his many aesthetic atrocities (which include his face), but it'll do for the moment.
- On the racks: November 21, 2006
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead
- Citizen Slaine
Trying to get to the bottom of one of the Boston scene’s more controversial rappers is no easy feat.
- T.I.
Atlanta rapper T.I. pushed 500,000 King units the first week, but I don’t think his pro forma rags-or-riches movie debut ATL or America’s boner for all things Southern deserve the credit.
- Justify my love
Oh, Justin. Even you know that your undeniable charisma and brilliantly executed choreography somehow balance out your post-boy-band status and lack of indie cred. Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live, "Dick in a Box" (YouTube)
- Hip and free VBS.TV
In collaboration with Vice magazine, Spike Jonze has put together an on-line TV station.
- Less
Topics:
CD Reviews
, Entertainment, Music, Music Reviews, More
, Entertainment, Music, Music Reviews, Just Blaze, Cee-Lo, Fat Joe, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Less
