So I’ll admit, I was not a huge fan of B.o.B. I’d listened to all of his mixtapes and regularly bumped ‘I’ll be in the Sky’ and ‘On Top of the World’ in my car, but for the most part, didn’t find a whole lot to like. The samples were often awkwardly placed rock samples and most of the songs attempted to tread a thin line between dirty south rap and rock, usually without success. However, after listening to his new CD, B.o.B. has finally hit the mark and completely won me over.
Basically,
The Adventures of Bobby Ray is what Lil Wayne’s
Rebirth could have been if Lil Wayne knew how to play a guitar and stopped searching for rhymes at the bottom of his cup of codeine. But I digress. With the exception of ‘Bet I’, every song on the CD deviates from the dirty south style that B.o.B. had previously been trying his hand at and settles into a nice medium between pop, rock, and rap with remarkable success.
B.o.B. also managed to pull a pretty impressive lineup of features, including Weezer, Eminem, Lupe Fiasco, and label-mate T.I. And, perhaps even more impressive than the guests performing alongside him, B.o.B. manages to hold his own against his star-studded guests, proving that he can match the cool swag of the King of the South and wit of Lupe Fiasco (though I will concede that Eminem gets the better of him. Really, though, who can hold a candle to Marshall Mathers these days?) And while it becomes clear that he does have some singing talent, B.o.B. generally leaves that up to his guests, such as Bruno Mars, Hayley Williams and Rivers Cuomo. It’s nice to see B.o.B. relinquishing some of his time in the spotlight and refraining from belting out a couple verses in song, a trend many rappers are becoming fond of (i.e. The Game, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Lil Wayne).
Another gripe I’ve had with a lot of recent rap CD’s is that every song seems runs together and are essentially indistinguishable from each other save the track name. This is not the case with
The Adventures of Bobby Ray. Nearly every single track has it’s own feel, as well as a distinct beat and rapping style. ‘Magic’ features a catchy chorus from Weezer and a quick snare during the verses. ‘Satellite’ is heavy on the synths and auto-tune effects. And, as most people know, ‘Nothing on You’ is just pure radio gold.
All in all, B.o.B. has put together one of the most impressive freshman outings in years. He bravely ventures into the oft-attempted, rarely conquered territory of pop-rock-rap and gives us one of the best CD’s of the year so far.
