Stalley has the best beard in rap, but outside of that he
doesn’t have much of a distinct personality. Fortunately, he’s managed to do
two things right in his career. First, he signed to Maybach Music Group without
losing anything about his identity, which probably wasn’t too hard since he was
kind of generic in the first place, but if Wale is any indication Rick Ross is
usually able to remake MMG signees in his own boring image. Second, he’s
maintained a working relationship with the Block Beattaz from his better than
it should have been Lincoln Way Nights
album through to his new single “Swangin’.” Along with Big K.R.I.T. and all of
the producers on The Outfit, TX’s album, the Block Beattaz are the kings of a
certain strain of soulful, woozy Southern hip-hop production. If nothing else,
Stalley’s personality deficiencies are almost completely masked by the great
twinkling beat on “Swangin’.” The mostly acapella Scarface guest verse elevates
the song further, and if DJ Screw were still alive, this song would sound
amazing in the middle of a Screw tape (though it would probably have to be
something like volume 1473 in the Diary
of the Originator series).
Stalley has accomplished something that I didn’t think was
possible: making me really excited for an MMG album. And if they tapped the
right producers—the Block Beattaz included—the Geto Boys could have one more classic
album in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment