CD Reviews

Three 6 Mafia

Last 2 Walk | Sony

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 19, 2008

2.0 Stars

On their first album since crashing the Oscars with their contribution to Hustle & Flow, Three 6 Mafia, chopped and screwed down to a two-piece producer/rapper tag team, haven’t lost their focus on getting shorties, rims, ’dro, etc. Has success gone to their heads? Well, if you believe “Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body),” ladies in the clubs are still impressed with Oscar’s golden dome: “She bouncin’ on my lap and she try to unzip/I whispered in her ear, ‘It’s hard for a pimp.’ ” The same song also includes, within an unbelievably sleazy series of verses that conclude with sex being had in a very large moving vehicle, this awkward political endorsement: “There’s a whole lotta room in the front of the range/Like Barack Obama said, yeah, it’s time for a change.” Yikes! The production is somewhat conservative by crunk standards — is it even possible now for a song to employ a tasteful degree of T-Painful autotunery? — as the audio adventurousness of 2005’s Most Known Unknown gets traded in for fight songs and empty boasts set to the now-familiar juxtaposition of minor-key synths and relentless beats. Last 2 Walk is a club-banging record, but it’s hard to recommend something so by-the-book. As Key said in Hustle & Flow: “Just because you got the bacon, lettuce, and tomato don’t mean I’m gonna give you my toast.”

Related: Battle of the banned, Feel the music, The down low, More

Battle of the banned
It's one thing to be a musician and get thrown out of Disneyland (Velvet Underground) or banned from a national landmark (Ozzy Osbourne at the Alamo), but you've hit rock paydirt when you become the target of an entire nation.
Feel the music
I personally find it comforting that the current number-one single in the country has a chorus that goes "I'll gas up the jet for you tonight, and baby we can go wherever you like."
The down low
A legacy of musical runts
T.I. vs. T.I.P.
In 1886, it was The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : dark versus light, yin versus yang.
Reyes Brothers
Mellow Man Ace, who had the first hit Latin hip-hop single in 1989 (“Mentirosa”), and Sen Dog, of the seminal group Cypress Hill, are actual brothers.
Jurassic 5
Major-label “positive” rappers like this decade-old crew have defended the old school like schoolmarms upholding the five principles of hip-hop as if they were as much fun as the three R’s. Jurassic 5, "Work It Out" feat. Dave Matthews Band (Quicktime)
SA-RA CREATIVE PARTNERS
A brief intro to the eternally fashion-forward bi-coastal production trio before these newest signees to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. imprint unleash their big splash later this year.
Say what?!
Rapper Esoteric has been getting lots of death threats via e-mail recently. But he’s not too worried about them, if only because of their elementary character.
Stars aligned
The days are growing shorter, the magazines are (well, barely) getting larger and meatier, and the first batch of cider doughnuts is on the way real soon: all sure signs of autumn, as is the bountiful crop of prestigious concerts coming our way this season.
Tone def jam
Def Jam: Icon is a marketing memo disguised as a video game, a conceptual nightmare that collapses under the weight of brand names and ill-advised “synergy.”
Audible Treats
When the word “underground” gets attached to “hip-hop,” we’re apt to imagine white boys spouting SAT verbiage in a feeble imitation of the real thing.
Less

Topics: CD Reviews , Barack Obama, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, More

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