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SLIM THUG ALBUM REVIEW: ALREADY PLATINUM

“Most them [Houston] n&&a’s ain’t real…I’m the dirty South BOSS, them other suckas is clones..representing Texas with them weak a&& songs…” - Slim Thug, “Diamonds”.

Houston we have NO problem. Slim Thug has arrived. Out to bring Houston back to respect in the mind of serous hiphop fans, Slim Thug serves us his ALREADY PLATINUM CD and I love what I’m smelling. Ever since the days of the G.E.T.O. Boys and Scarface Houston has steadily declined in notoriety and hiphop relevance. Yes you got underground Houston acts like Z-Ro, Yung Ro and K-Rino keeping the local Houstonites entertained and showcasing serous skill that can hold up to a lot of the best rappers out, but no one outside of that region has even heard of them cats. I mean Houston actually probably has more artists coming out than Atlanta and Miami combined because they have a HUGE underground rap scene, local fans that are fiercely loyal and local radio stations that support their own.

But again if you don’t live in Houston or lucky enough to have charitable friends sending you local Houston artist CDs you just won’t hear about most of these other talented cats. Nowadays you’ll only hear about the lesser skilled Houston MCs like Lil Flip and (vomit) Mike Jones. To be fair Lil Flip is relatively solid in that he does try to put effort into his albums and also came up the admirable hard way by repping on dozens of underground mix tapes and STILL reps on dozens of underground volumes. So I’m cool with Flip. But let’s face it. Compared to Scarface no rapper in Houston comes close to that type of legendary standard; hence there has been a huge void NATIONALLY in credible Houston hiphop (Devin’s a credible artist that’s kind of close to having a national name). Till now that is. Enter Slim Thug. A Houston rapper who features the best of Southern realness combined with a controlling and commanding Xzibit like flow (albeit with less lyrical ability) and backed by the national producer appeal of Pharrell/Neptunes that’ll ensure he becomes the next nationally known credible Houston rapper.

I kind of consider Slim the “Xzibit of the South” in fact. Well the Xzibit of 40 DAYS & 40 NIGHTS fame that is (pre-Dr. Dre sellout days). Another nice element in Slim Thug’s appeal is that he’s established a likable identity already due to his insistence that he was driving a Bentley and a paid man way before the album and way before Pharrell came into his life. So if anyone can bring back CREDIBLE national respect to Houston it’s Slim Thug.

Contrary to what 50 Cent may believe (He believes fans will buy his music forever just because he’s 50 and beats aren’t important) most fans buy music mainly because of the production of the song. So like a true genius Slim enlists the talents of the great Pharrell and his Neptunes click to produce half of his album. Sure enough Pharrell hooked Slim up with a banger of a song in “I Ain’t Heard Of That” that also has a banging video with banging chics to go with it. Neptunes even produced “Like A Boss” which seemingly was in underground circulation 2 or 3 years ago. Similarly “3 Kings” featuring T.I. and Bun B has been around forever too. You gotta admire a debut artist who takes his work seriously and enlists not only all-star producers but sprinkles the album with quality cameos by nationally known acts. Again Neptunes' production is the main story here on this album. Besides the aforementioned 2 songs, Neptunes come correct on “Click Clack”, “Already Platinum”, and “Playa you Don’t Know”. And as an added bonus they give Slim Thug some soulful delights in “This is My Life” and “Dedicate”. Both songs have the right amount of soul and emotion without going overboard. Honestly Neptunes probably deserves half of Slim’s royalties on this album because it’s their effort that will be the foundation that sells this album and simultaneously builds Slim’s career.

But just because Slim smartly makes sure he gets some nationally appealing songs on there doesn’t mean he’s turned his back on Houston. True to his roots he gives us “Diamonds” and “Boyz N Blue” that both feature appealing “screw-like”, slowed down choruses. “Boyz N Blue” is especially appealing as Slim and his crew he nicknames Boyz N Blue control the song nicely. Of course a hiphop album wouldn’t complete these days without the traditional ode to Mary Jane and the art of pimping. Both ideologies are showcased in “Miss Mary” and “Everybody Loves A Pimp” respectively. Last but not least deserving pub is “Interview” which is like a 2005 “No More ?’s” type song. The only song on here I really can do without is “Incredible Feeling” which I’m just not feeling but it ain’t wack. Other than that what you have is a conglomerate of above average songs that push this album into the “strong buy”/“MUST HAVE” category. I mean the only real bad thing I can say about this CD is that it doesn’t come with the customary DVD attachment that us ballers can feature in the ride via multiple TV screens and DVD systems. Meaning Slim Thug has come more than correct and dropped some bangin hiphop for us to bang out our rides till that cold weather starts taking effect. Go ahead and cop this album. It’s one of the few worth buying these days.

Benz0
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