Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Review: Big Boi- Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty


It was a hell of a decade for Outkast. They put out two of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, gathering all the critical acclaim and fan support you could possibly get. Then they ended the decade by releasing the turd "Idlewild", and it's hard for me to tell you which was worse, the album or the movie. No need to fear though, it's a new decade and Big Boi is back. Dre isn't with him this time around, and that may be for the best, at least this time around.

"Sir Lucious Left Foot" is full of bangers, and it's reason to see why every music critic out there was awaiting this solo debut. I can't count how many times I listened to "Speakerboxxx" in high school, and it was far superior to Dre's "The Love Below", and while Dre has always been all show with some game, Big Boi is all game, and he has stepped it up.

Big Boi is still rapping about Caddy's and Subwoofers, the usual, "Daddy Fat Sax" is the second song off the album, and with that, Big Boi is back, teriffic production by R. DJ, and Big Boi's flawless flow make it the best song on the album and a perfect beginning. This sets the stage for "Turns Me On", and with Sleepy Brown and Joi sharing time with Big Boi, we're batting 1.000 thanks to this fun, dirty, little tune.

Fun and dirty is what this album is all about, we're not talking inner city problems here, but this ain't crap spewed by "generic rapper #42", but that's not to say this album has some downfalls. "Follow Us" is a very weak track that's made weaker by Vonnegutt who sounds like Andy Samberg doing a Lonely Island track. Jamie Foxx doesn't add much to "Hustle Blood" which comes off more like a forced studio track to be released as a single and sell some records.

But while the low points are low, the high points are very high. "Shutterbug" is fantastic, and being followed by the quite funny and quite awesome "General Patton" is another good one-two punch that gets the asses shaking in a hurry with grins from ear to ear. It comes as no surprise that Janelle Monae offers the best guest spot on "Be Still" adding that R&B punch that every rapper has now, the difference is, is that Monae kicks the asses of her counterparts like Beyonce or Rhianna who tend to make things more generic than they need to be.

While it isn't the masterpiece that "Speakerboxxx" was, "Sir Lucious Left Foot" is a great reminder of why we need Big Boi in the hip-hop world. He's a divide between the self serious (Common, Talib, Mos...etc.) and the so called kingpins (Jay-Z, Kanye, Eminem). It's refreshing to hear an album like this while the genre seems to be in a downward spiral. Hip-hop may be "dead", but Big Boi is keeping the flame alive.

**** out of *****

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