REVIEW
My Ghetto Report Card
Who: E-40
Rating:3 1/2 Stars out of 5
— by Willow
Coming off of the lackluster success of Breaking News and Grit and Grind, E-40 -- who's revered by some as the Hova of the Bay -- returns with My Ghetto Report Card. The popularity of his first single, "Tell Me When to Go," introduced E-40 and the Bay Area's rapidly increasing hyphy movement to the TRL crowd. Known for making "mob" music with a slick out the mouth delivery, E-40 does make his joint venture with Lil' Jon work without there being any real chemistry.
True fans of E-40 have proven to the rest of hip-hop, their love for him is that of an acquired taste, more so if the fan is not from Northern California. This new album finally gives them what they've wanted for him since the days of In a Major Way -- mainstream success. Unfortunately, with any commercial/crossover success, a loss on some level has to be taken. The loss E-40 takes appealing to his new found fan base is the originality that made him a factor in the first place.
Production from famed Bay Area producer, Rick Rock, on "Yay Area" and Lil Jon with "Tell Me When to Go," E-40's fasted paced lyrical delivery is ever present, yet the content is lost. Not to be out of sync with the compilation record styling of the Bay, E-40 leans hard on his features, on an album where he should have held his own. Some of the artists featured include Keak Da Sneak, The Federation, Juelz Santana, UGK, Too Short, Mike Jones, Bosko, and T-Pain.
Though calculating E-40's cumulative GPA becomes tedious, there are plenty of tracks on this CD that give the listener a chance to "do the fool," "go dumb" and "get hyphy before the sideshow. Bangers that make the honorable mention are "She Say She Loves Me" and sexually explicit "Gimme Head." "Go Hard or Go Home" is truly one of the standout tracks, as E-40 brings out the classic lyricist his fans have come to know, while bringing the funny on "Happy To Be Here" and "Do Ya Head Like This."
E-40 has not changed; he's still serving up as much slang as you can handle and still has the same style, as far as lyrics go. Never one to sell his style or fans short for platinum record sales, his selfless act of doing extra credit to bring shine to the Bay didn't require so much of the hyphy/crunk combo.
E-40 fans have 17 songs to choose from and there are enough good songs to please them without hating on the record in its entirety. Known for making the unpopular popular, E-40 keeps Mac Dre's memory alive, while showing the world what the Bay is all about on his Ghetto Report Card. The quarterback Earl "E-40" Stevens gets a B.
My Ghetto Report Card
Who: E-40
Rating:3 1/2 Stars out of 5
— by Willow
Coming off of the lackluster success of Breaking News and Grit and Grind, E-40 -- who's revered by some as the Hova of the Bay -- returns with My Ghetto Report Card. The popularity of his first single, "Tell Me When to Go," introduced E-40 and the Bay Area's rapidly increasing hyphy movement to the TRL crowd. Known for making "mob" music with a slick out the mouth delivery, E-40 does make his joint venture with Lil' Jon work without there being any real chemistry.
True fans of E-40 have proven to the rest of hip-hop, their love for him is that of an acquired taste, more so if the fan is not from Northern California. This new album finally gives them what they've wanted for him since the days of In a Major Way -- mainstream success. Unfortunately, with any commercial/crossover success, a loss on some level has to be taken. The loss E-40 takes appealing to his new found fan base is the originality that made him a factor in the first place.
Production from famed Bay Area producer, Rick Rock, on "Yay Area" and Lil Jon with "Tell Me When to Go," E-40's fasted paced lyrical delivery is ever present, yet the content is lost. Not to be out of sync with the compilation record styling of the Bay, E-40 leans hard on his features, on an album where he should have held his own. Some of the artists featured include Keak Da Sneak, The Federation, Juelz Santana, UGK, Too Short, Mike Jones, Bosko, and T-Pain.
Though calculating E-40's cumulative GPA becomes tedious, there are plenty of tracks on this CD that give the listener a chance to "do the fool," "go dumb" and "get hyphy before the sideshow. Bangers that make the honorable mention are "She Say She Loves Me" and sexually explicit "Gimme Head." "Go Hard or Go Home" is truly one of the standout tracks, as E-40 brings out the classic lyricist his fans have come to know, while bringing the funny on "Happy To Be Here" and "Do Ya Head Like This."
E-40 has not changed; he's still serving up as much slang as you can handle and still has the same style, as far as lyrics go. Never one to sell his style or fans short for platinum record sales, his selfless act of doing extra credit to bring shine to the Bay didn't require so much of the hyphy/crunk combo.
E-40 fans have 17 songs to choose from and there are enough good songs to please them without hating on the record in its entirety. Known for making the unpopular popular, E-40 keeps Mac Dre's memory alive, while showing the world what the Bay is all about on his Ghetto Report Card. The quarterback Earl "E-40" Stevens gets a B.
