Gucci Mane "The Appeal Georgia's Most Wanted" Album Disassembly

DISCLAIMER: This will NOT be my typical review. After hearing this album I found it difficult to give my opinion with out going on a rant fueled by disgust and anger. There will be no subtleties. There will be no formalities. I will not be modest. But…I will you use manners. (Rules of engagement when rating music: 1.) Anything below a 3 is not worthy of being played. Therefore it is WACK. 2.) Skits receive an automatic 3 to level out overall rating (unless actual creativity was involved in creative process, thus giving it a higher rating.) 4.) Ratings vary from album to album. Hip hop R&B, rock etc… have different standards and are rated accordingly.).  To all Gucci Mane La Flare die hard fans…DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU FIND YOUR SELF WITH RUFFLED FEATHERS WHILE HEARING BAD TALK ABOUT GUCCI MANE LA FLARE.
            There are many unspoken categories for rappers and their music: Lyrical, entertainment, back packer, gangster, pop, etc… Radric “Gucci Mane” Davis is in a category all by his lonesome. Weather that’s a good or bad thing is irrelevant. The fact remains that Gucci Mane, in most cases, epitomizes every stereotype that is made available for a southern rapper. Many wonder why the name “Gucci Mane”. The answer to that question, most likely, will be the deepest you will ever travel into this artist’s persona, music, and style. He’s released countless mixed tapes, off hand independent albums, and now, three mainstream albums. With out a successful album under his belt, he presses on in the music industry with odd collaborations and an entourage full of circus acts and names to go with it: OJ Da Juiceman & Waka Flocka Flame. Armed with jewelry that looks faker than broken glass and bouncy club music, Gucci Mane has put on an entertaining circus act him self. Gucci’s Latest, The Appeal Georgia’s Most Wanted, has put on an even brighter light show of incoherent sentences, grammar that would disappoint a toddler, beats that make you want to dance around like a 50-year-old autistic person with immeasurable energy, and an overall disappointing arrangement of noise.
             Gucci Mane begins this menacing ear terminator with a decent theme and sound in the introduction. Little Friend opens up with the Scare Face theme followed by your normal 808 bass, dull percussion, and dramatic horns. Though Bun B sounds the most intelligent on this song, he doesn’t delivery his usual hit, but he actually betters the song with his presence alone. As you come to the chorus: “came to the country with a dolla and a dream/ and a choppa and a team full of killas, what chu mean/ I’m a bad guy, a bad guy from start to da end/ say hello to my little friend/ I coulda been a doctor/ shoulda been a lawyer/ I go to court so much I coulda been my own employer/ Ima die dope boy/ always been a hustla/ started of a customer/ now I get it past customs”, you can’t help but hold your head while you shake it. It’s very doubtful that Gucci would be qualified; let alone welcome, in a court room for reasons other than defending his own life. His stint in the doctor’s office won’t differ any either.
            Trap Talk takes Gucci Back to his Back To the Trap House vibe. This song is the same song as the previous song; the only difference is the chorus and the beat. Continuing with Missing, you hear the beat and immediately anticipate OJ Da Juiceman. Very bouncy and bass heavy, this song makes you scratch your head from beginning to end. It starts off with Sig H.B. making random sounds with his mouth and not making any sense at all what so ever. This track proves it self to be more of an annoyance than a song. Lyrically, Gucci Mane makes is third lap in the mindless imbecile marathon.
            What’s It Gonna Be Has a beat worthy of to be on an album, but still falls short to a boring stand point mainly because of Gucci Mane’s lack of substance and lazy delivery. He rides the chorus pretty well, but he speaks on things that have been the topic of every other song on the radio for the past 10 years.
            Making Love To The Money makes you question Gucci Mane for a moment. We won’t get into the beat because its generic and sounds like every other southern beat. Gucci Mane attempts to profess his focus on the money or exploit the slogan “money over bitches” in the chorus: “Maken love to the money, I swear the sex straight/ I kick dem hoes out, but let the money stay/ Maken love to the money like a sex tape/ I’m talking kim k/ I’m talking ray J!/ maken love to da money on da interstate/ cant keep my hands off her, we on a dinner date/ Im maken love to my money, shawty keep me straight/ I cant live with out her, I fuck her everyday”. This song has pause moments all over the place. Ultimately, its Gucci Mane’s pathetic attempt at being creative by personifying money (as if that hasn’t been don’t before (Nas)).
            Gucci Time features Swizz Beatz and makes you want to smack Swizz while telling him to stick to making beats and leave the mic skills to people that actually have mic skills. The beat gets a thumb up. Over all this song is hard hitting and forces you to go into your swag once your hear it. As we move along to Party Animal we continue the bounce and actually begin to tolerate the album, mainly because of the beat. Gucci continues making laps with lyrics like “She lyin through da EA/ smoken outa elway/ I fuck with them the long way/ but I don’t ride with passenger/ two seater, row eater, my car is a cannible/ just ate up the parking lot… (not able to comprehend the end of that line)”.
            Remember When has a faded Ray J on the chorus and a lagging beat that causes Gucci Mane to rap slower than normal. What makes it worse, Gucci yells to get his point across causing him to sound like a retard even more.
            Haterade is the albums one and only high point where Gucci Mane gets beat by a girl, Lyrically. Nicki Minaj stripes her self of all the cartoony antics and gets down and dirty on pharrell’s mellow beat with nothing but lyrics. Although you’re reminded of reasons why Pharrell should not sing, you get a chance to enjoy this song nonetheless. Its Alive is the exact opposite of it’s title. This song is so boring its dead. Prepare for a quick nap as you listen to this song.
            Gucci Mane continues to kill hime self on this album with lines like “I’m so fuckin paid, I just bought the dollar sign”. Even the most simple minded of listeners will shake their heads while listening to The Appeal Georgia’s Most Wanted. What we have to realize is; Gucci Mane wasn’t sent here to make us think. He wasn’t sent here to make us dance and have a good time. He was sent here to make us bounce when we’re bored. When you want to be silly after getting out of the shower, put on a Gucci tape. When you need to stay up late at night while driving from state to state, play Weirdo on full blast. Be sure not to sing along, and do not play his music while operating heavy machinery. The Appeal Georgia’s Most Wanted shows Gucci’s growth as far as production, but keeps Gucci Mane’s music in a fast food rap category. It barely sounds good, serves its purpose for the moment, and ultimately is not good for you. This may sound like hate to some of you, but if you like Gucci Mane’s music, you’re right. I hate you. Lol just playing. Every one has their opinion, and this album just so happened to make my opinion over shadow all the dynamics for writing an unbiased review.

1.)  Little Friend – 3/5
2.)  Trap Talk – 2.7/5
3.)  Missing – 2.4/5
4.)  What’s It Gonna Be – 3/5
5.)  Making Love To The Money – 2/5
6.)  <span>Gucci Time</span> ft Swizz Beatz – 3/5
7.)  Party Animal – 3/5
8.)  Remember When ft Ray J – 2.2/5
9.)  Haterade ft Nicki Minaj & Pharrell – 3.6/5
10.) It’s Alive ft Swizz Beatz – 2/5
11.) ODog ft Wyclef Jean – 3.1/5
12.) Dollar Sign – 3.1/5
13.) Brand New – 3/5
14.) Weirdo – 2/5
15.) Grown Man ft Estelle – 2.9/5


}Beats{         }Lyrics{        }Overall{
 2.7/5              1.5/5                2.4/5

Trey Songz "Passion Pain & Pleasure" Album Review

         R&B’s #1 playboy, Trey Songz, has had a pretty consistent ride through his career. He’s dominated the radio since 2005 with a plethora of hits and features (Gotta Go, Wonder Woman, LOL :-), I Invented Sex, and countless others). That’s not all that this ladies man has been involved in though. From being a Rocawear model to numerous performances and tours, this guy has been on top of his hustle.  Most recently his Nikky Minaj assited hit, Bottoms Up, has been heating up radios, ringtones, and message boards across the nation. The Virginia native’s latest is your everyday mixture of romance, heartache, and love rolled up into one more reason to have sex. Even though his subject matter is typical for an R&B artist, he definitely gives an interesting perspective on all sides of the board.

            Here We Go Again, the first track, hits the nail right on the head. Again, again, and again we endure Trey’s sexual innuendos and scant musical attempts. Maybe it’s because he’s young with raging hormones, or maybe he’s exploiting the slogan “sex sells”. We’ll never know. Either way, Trey comes out swinging with Love Faces. A melodic song with a heavy, steady bass line side by side with Trey’s pleading vocals. Get ready to sweat out your perms and for intense touching, ladies; you still have two more rounds to go with Massage and Alone. Trey Songz eases his way up your shirt with Massage while he prepares to get you Alone. Love Faces, Massage, and Alone are definitely a triple threat in the bedroom, but eventually become boring until his lead single, Bottoms Up, begins to play.

The Kane Beatz produced Bottoms Up hits the album by storm and relieves you from the previous songs. Nikki Minaj makes an impressive appearance with character, humor, and genuine entertainment in her verse. The up and coming female rapper stretches her voice and plays with words in such a way that would keep you entertained for hours. Considering the beat, exciting chorus, and Nikki’s cartoonish verse, Bottoms Up has listeners wondering why Trey Songz has a verse on this song at all.

     We hit intermission on Passion Pain and Pleasure with the dramatic, almost opera like interlude named Pain. This interlude makes you wonder why Trey Songz won’t dive into deeper subject matter and let listeners hear more of him instead of his acts in the bedroom more often. Broken heart maybe? Food for thought…

     Moving right along we have another song of heartache touching on the negative effects of good sex between friends. Trey shows his maturity on Can’t Be Friends and gives you a breath of fresh air. Even though he’s still talking about sex, he’s show diversity. Though this is a good song, its not material that should be used as a single, at least not in this day and age.

     Any true fan of real R&B can appreciate Please Return My Call. Trey takes us on a journey through a man’s apologetic nature and pleading ways. If we had more songs like this from Trey Songz we wouldn’t notice his pitchy vocals on every other song and we indivertibly hold Trey at a higher regard. Two thumbs up on this one Trey!!

     Unfortunately Passion Pain and Pleasure loses its momentum dramatically with the next few songs. Made To Be Together is boring musically and makes Trey seem weak and pathetic as a man. Pleasure annoys you at first listen and could actually anger some one. Red Lipstick takes you back to sex and is Trey’s horrible attempt at being sassy. Why he even wrote or chose to perform this song, I don’t know.

     Drake makes his way into the album on Unusual. Everything about this song is unusual. The drums are sloppy and the beat is very unorganized. Drake’s verse is just as sloppy as the drums and is actually the most unusual thing on the song considering his track record of witty lines and melodic placement of words on songs. Ultimately, some one with an acquired taste can only appreciate Unusual.

     Trey takes us down another sexual highway with Doorbell. Any pervert with a brain stem can figure out Trey Songz’s repetitive “ding dong” line playing through out the song.

     The best song on the album unfortunately has a late arrival. Unfortunate is a clever song vocally. The dramatic, yet subtle beat keeps you drawn in, and the words complement it with a certain feeling. Feeling is one of the last things you get from a Trey Songz song. Lol songz song. Humor made especially for me, don’t mind me. Picking back up on his creativity, Trey Songz has learned how to ease in his vocals and keep the listener hypnotized by using his voice properly. Unfortunate should have been put out in the 90’s for true appreciation.

Trey ends the album out of breath with Blind and You Just Need Me. Though he still shows hope for diversity on these two songs, Its evident Trey Songz has a long way to go musically.

     Trey Songz is obviously one for first impressions. At first listen, Passion Pain and  Pleasure is an instant keeper. But…Once spun in your CD changer a few times, you get tired of certain songs and you realize that Trey has given us more sex and less music. More then half of the actual songs of the album are sexual in one-way or another. Passion Pain and Pleasure is an album for the young and horny rather than the young and sexy.

            If you want a better version of Drake vocally, look for his other half Trey Songz. As flattering as that may sound, you shouldn’t take that statement too far in your mind. Trey songz’s vocals still remain pitchy and shaky. Ultimately, Trey has no diversity vocally, but he is tolerable. That’s the difference between Drake and himself. Over all this album is average with a few high points. One thing we can say about Trey though is he’s growing as an artist slow but surely. Better late than never, right?!

1.)  Here We Go again ---}Intro{

2.)  Love Faces – 3.5/5

3.)  Massage – 3.9/5

4.)  Alone – 3.6/5

5.)  Bottoms Up (ft. Nikki Minaj) – 4.2/5

6.)  –Pain---} Interlude {

7.)  Can’t Be Friends – 3.7/5

8.)  Please Return My Call – 4.1/5

9.)  Made To Be Together – 3/5

10.)  –Pleasure---} Interlude {

11.) Red Lipstick – 2.8/5

12.) Unusual (ft. Drake) – 3/5

13.) Doorbell – 3.2/5

14.) –Passion---} Interlude {

15.) Unfortunate – 4.4/5

16.) Blind – 3.8/5

17.) You Just Need Me – 3.3/5

  }Beats{   }Vocals{  }Overall{
    3.8/5      3.4/5        3.5/5

Usher "Versus" EP Review

  If there’s any one that wears their heart on their sleeve and makes you want to dance all at the same time better than Usher Raymond there wouldn’t be a need for another superstar in the R&B arena. As difficult as it may seem though, that’s not all the multitasking this mega superstar has managed to accomplish through out his illustrious career. While releasing six albums he’s captured the hearts of TLC group member Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, model Naomi Cambell, and most recently, stylist Tameka Foster. He’s written an album confessing his infidelities and an album expressing the heart aches of marriage, all the while selling a grand total of 45 million albums worldwide. Aside from his other business ventures, this guy knows how to stay busy. Most recently, though, his troubles seem more interesting than usual because he’s dealing with something that’s on the other side of the spectrum completely, marriage and divorce. He hasn’t suffered a total lose though; he’s gained two children in the process, boys at that! That’s like having four kids! Good job Usher, two thumbs up! Ushers’ latest is an EP that will at last bring everything to a closing as far as his recent marriage is concerned.
       Usher begins this EP with words and phrases you would expect from a bachelor fresh out of a divorce in the first song entitled “Love Em all”. This song begins with a rhythm reminiscent to LL Cool J’s “I Need Love” but soon transforms into your everyday synthesized love song with hyper snares, a subtle 808, and a repetitive chorus. With lines like “There’s enough of me to go around up in the club, yea! / There’s enough of me to make sure I pleasure all these girls in the club yea!” and “I’m gonna make sure its fat, gonna do you you you and you/ and then im gonna do her! Ok lets get it straight, all my ladies get in line, yea!” it is obvious this guy is single and ready to mingle. Eat your heart out ladies. Though this song fails to go anywhere musically, it still gets you in the mood to dance and ready for the next club song named  “DJ Got Us Falling In Love”. This song is one for the club and one for your boom box when you’re dancing naked fresh out of the shower. While infecting your speakers with a high-powered chorus, heart pounding drums, and synthesized sounds essential for a techno song, this song will put you in a good mood. This song is almost complete, but suffers a set back mainly because of Pitbull’s off brand Cuban swagger and less than impressive lyrics. This wouldn’t be your typical song for a rapper, and Pitbull makes it painfully evident that he should stick to his own party songs and not recite verses in a rappers place.
            Moving along, Usher turns the heat up a bit with “Hot Tottie”. Usher delivers a performance that would almost constitute this song an aphrodisiac. Usher wastes no time in getting it started on this song when he says ”I see you like to talk, I hear you baby/ claimin you a bad #*@!, show me baby”. Makes you want to grab your lady and kisser doesn’t it? Jay-Z makes a stellar appearance proclaiming him self as “King Hov”.  You don’t hear rappers ride a beat the way Jay does these days, and Jay-Z doesn’t slip once as he lyrically assaults this freak song.
            The mood changes though in such a way it would aggravate any woman in the heat of the moment with a song like “Lay You Down” and actually disappoints in comparison to the previous song. “Lingerie” sneaks it's way in though and makes the ladies want to slip into something sexy and put on a show for their mate. This groove puts your mind at rest and gears your body for freaky dance moves. Usher couldn’t get enough of his baby though with “There Goes My Baby” as this song was track number 3 on its predecessor “Raymond vs Raymond”. It’s a good song and is actually a perfect fit for the EP considering the direction Usher decided to take this “last chapter” of his. “Get In My Car” wouldn’t be a complete song with out Bun-B. Unfortunately it seems Bun didn’t try hard enough on this one. The beat has Bun B written all over it, but he disappoints with lines such as: “Well its big bun b, back on my B.I./ never been an every day joe like G.I.”…. Really Bun?  Over all this song is average and actually takes away from the project as a whole.
             Usher brings along Canadian newcomer Justin Bieber on the sensational remix of  “Somebody To Love”. This fast paced dance song makes you fall in love with the dance floor more than anything. Even though this song was initially put out by Justin Bieber it painted a perfect picture for Usher him self.
            Usher gives this EP an appropriate ending with “Stranger” while addressing some of the issues with love and loyalty.  The beat definitely give’s you sort of a goodbye feeling, and his lyrics along with his voice certainly give you the farewell vibe. Ultimately it’s a good closer to an interesting chapter in his life.
            Although Usher has stated that “Versus” is the last chapter in “Raymond vs. Raymond” you can’t help but wonder where he will go from here. How many more hearts will he be clumsy with? Who will bare his child next? How long will he be a bachelor? Who will be in his next love triangle? Regardless what the answer may be, one thing is for sure and two things for certain: Usher is going to sing his heart out and the people will get some good music in the process. So, if you’re looking to dance or simply reminisce on a past love, “Versus” is a definite keeper and should get heavy rotation in your CD changer or play list.


1.)   Love Em All – 3.3/5
2.)   DJ Got Us Falling In Love (ft. Pitbull) – 4.3/5
3.)   Hot Tottie (ft. Jay-Z) – 5/5
4.)   Lay You Down – 3.1/5
5.)   Lingerie – 3.8/5
6.)   There Goes My Baby – 4.4/5
7.)   Get In My Car (ft. Bun-B) – 3/5
8.)   Somebody To Love (Remix) (ft. Justin Beiber) – 3.4/5
9.)   Stranger – 3.9/5

} Vocals{     }Beats{      }Overall{
  4.1/5           3.5/5           3.9/5