What's in Your Changer? Share your musical taste with fellow enthusiasts. Write to us at soundstage@mcmullenargus.com. Give us your stats: name, age, type of car and a list of the CD's you're currently spinning. Every month we will select a submission and print your info.
Lil' Romeo
2 WAY
Universal
The question is whether Lil' Romeo, son of notorious rap mogul Master P, has any real talent or is simply another example of music industry nepotism. The single "2 Way" from his sophomore album Game Time is clearly well produced (Thanks dad!). With the groovy, head-bopping sample from "It Takes Two" as well as a sample from "Think About It" by Lyn Collins, the song has a comfortable, familiar sound. Lil' Romeo also has some flowing help from his doting father (who is featured on the single) along with No Limit Records heavy-hitter (and Lil' Romeo's uncle) Silkk The Shocker. Their presence, along with Lil' Romeo's "cute" (i.e. young) rapping style will probably work on teenyboppers who consider themselves too hardcore for the N-Sync/Britney crew. So, as far as whether he has talent or not, it doesn't really matter. The single has all the elements to push the right head-bopping, hip-gyrating, arms-in-the-air groove that will have little girls all over the world screaming over Lil'' Romeo. Would I buy it? Probably not. -RCR.
Eminem
The Eminem Show
Aftermath
Guess who's back? It has been a while since his last album, The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem was busy with other projects like working on his crew D12's record and filming his semi-bio pic 8 Mile, but now the controversial rapper has returned to take on his mom, ex-wife, Jermaine Dupri, the Bush administration, and Osama Bin Laden, amongst other things. Never one to bite his tongue, Slim Shady has written more lyrical mayhem and isn't afraid to go anywhere, even mentioning airplanes aimed at the World Trade Center, a topic most would think is too touchy to use on a rap CD. But that's exactly the type of people these songs are targeting - the conservatives who don't understand the difference between art and reality, the ones who have been blaming him for the problems that his lyrics have supposedly created. In the song "America", Eminem takes a stab at the irony of the country and its right to Freedom of Speech, for it's the same government that wants to suppress his views and opinion. There are no fillers on this album, save for a few funny, short skits. Every song has a purpose, whether it is to attack Kim, other rappers, or the president, or to sing praises for his daughter Hailie on "Hailie's Song". The single "Without Me" is already showing Eminem's pop appeal, playing everywhere from Urban to Top 40 stations, but it is the album cuts that will show he is more talented than the boy bands America wants to group him with. -85 Mics
Solomon Burke
Don't Give Up on Me
Fat Possum Records
There's something about good soul music, the kind with heavy gospel undertones. It has the ability unlike any other genre to truly "understand" the human condition, to give expression to what it is to be human. Good soul music sparks a feeling of nakedness in the listener, almost as if the musician sees right through their faade and, instead of trivializing it, provides himself as a source of solace to the listener. In his Fat Possum debut, Don't Give Up One Me, Solomon Burke does just that. The title track alone is enough to melt the most hardened soul (even if they don't outwardly admit it). Solomon Burke is no amateur. In his fifth decade of "Soul-Searching" (another great track on the album), he still knows what he is doing. With straight-from-the-heart vocals that make you silently cheer in agreement, and the melodic sound of the organ that soothes the weariest of nerves, any way you slice it, this cat's got SOUUUL. -RCR