CD Reviews

Slim Thug Presents Boss Hogg Outlawz

Serve and Collect | Koch

By MATTHEW GASTEIER | April 10, 2007

2.5 Stars

Crew records are notoriously awful endeavors, vanity projects for superstar rappers who want to toss a little money to friends from back home who couldn’t make it without them. Here, it’s Houston-repping Slim Thug’s turn, and it’s a testament to the production sensibility of that city’s hip-hop scene that Serve and Collect is one of the better additions to the too-plentiful genre. Indeed, the biggest problem with Slim’s major-label debut, 2005’s Already Platinum, was the deep-voiced rapper’s decision to abandon Houston’s trademark chopped-and-screwed sound for awkwardly matched brittle beats from the Neptunes. Slim knows better than to make the same mistake twice: working with his crew, he packs Serve and Collect with dirty horns, muffled drum punches, and slurred hooks that are classic Houston. But since the album is more a compilation than a true group recording, the quality of any given tune depends on the presence of one of two MCs: Killa Kyleon and PJ. The other rappers here are often indistinguishable. Still, it’s a good to hear Slim returning to the sound that he was born to ride over. Until his next solo record, it’s not hard to let a few forgettable verses by when beats are this hot.

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VIDEO: Slim Thug Presents Boss Hogg Outlawz, "Recognize a Playa" (Windows Media)

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