|
By JEFF MAKI
What! What! What! Where my dogs at?! That's right niggas and bitches, the "G-Punks" of (hed) P.E. are back with a new CD after disappearing for about five years or so. I have to admit, (hed) P.E. was one of my favorite bands of the late 1990s. And why not? A black man with a painted face rapping and screaming about bitches, tits, clits and bong hits over beats, heavy guitars, samples and scratching. What's not to like?
After record label problems, a few band members leaving and a really bad album, (Blackout—what a turd of an album that was), the band is back. I was hoping to a return to the form of their second album, Broke, but we're nowhere near that yet. Broke was and still is the ultimate party rap/rock album of all time and should be the album that all other releases of this genre are measured up to. I'm dead serious. That album gets a 10/10 in my book any day. Only in Amerika is an improvement over their last release, but it’s still not all that great. The band has lost that magic and edge that Broke and their debut had. Maybe it’s because of all the problems, or maybe the band has just run it's course. Who knows? Something is obviously wrong.
The new album does have some good points. "Foreplay," "War," and "Amerikan Beauty," to name a few. The beats are there, but every song is basically the same: muthafuck this, muthafuck that. After three or four songs of this it gets a little ridiculous. It is apparent that not much thought went into this record, especially lyrically. There are some funny raps and backup female vocals, a couple cool punk-sounding songs, but this isn't something you will want to listen to more than once—if you can even make it through that. With that being said, I can imagine that if you had about five or six beers, some ladies, and a bouncin’ party on hand that this album probably would be the shit. If you aren't in these circumstances regularly, I suggest you stay away from this album.
|
