Silkk the Shocker
Charge It 2 Da Game
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Just how did a former New Orleans street hustler – Master P – with a bayou-country twang and a whiny groan become rap music's most influential icon not named Puffy? The answer, as the second album from P's baby brother Silkk the Shocker demonstrates, is by taking gangsta gaudiness to its most entertaining extremes. Silkk's up-tempo vocals lack the charisma of his older brother's Bon Scottmeets-Tupac Shakur warble. But Charge It 2 Da Game succeeds when it adheres to No Limit Records' signature stripped-down beats, melodic hooks and ruffneck melodramatics – and when it avoids ill-advised remakes such as "Just Be Straight With Me," which loots from the S.O.S. Band. The dizzying
Read More "I'm a Soldier" and "Throw Your Hood Up" feature Silkk excitedly professing his own badness alongside guests Mia X, Mystikal and Snoop Doggy Dogg. But just when you think the rah-rah posturing can't get more absurd, the siblings drop "If I Don't Gotta," a prettily sculpted expression of regret. "I don't wanna be here if I don't gotta," rhymes Silkk. "My weed habit is so close to snorting powder/Got a few bitches/But it's all about a dollar/And they don't holla unless you movin' narcota...." Not exactly traditional family values, but the song provides at least one lesson: Real tough guys need not shout to be heard. (RS 783) CHAIRMAN MAO |
