Rich Boy [PA] (CD - 2007)

Personnel: Rich Boy (vocals).

The Mobile, Alabama, native known as Rich Boy just might have the thickest and most distinctive back-country drawl in all of hip-hop. His 2007 self-titled debut on Interscope benefits from the enormous success of the lead single, "Throw Some D's," as well as hot production from respected beatmakers like Timbaland, Manny Fresh, David Banner, and Polow Da Don. RICH BOY also features guest appearances from industry heavyweights such as Snoop Dogg ("Touch That Ass") and Lil Jon ("What It Do"), as well as Andre 3000, Jim Jones, Murphy Lee, the Game, and Nelly on the "Throw Some D's" remix.

"Throw Some D's" was 2007's anthem of excess, springboarding off Switch's classic "I Call Your Name" -- much more so than Ne-Yo's "It Just Ain't Right" -- and, by the time of this album's release, it had scaled up to the Top Ten of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart. Assisted by a co-production from Polow da Don (Fergie's "London Bridge," Ludacris' "Runaway Love"), the track's rallying energy is nearly overshadowed by Polow's guest verse, in which he proclaims that "every freak" should have a picture featuring a specific part (just the one part) of his anatomy on their wall. Thankfully, there's also the remarkable delivery from Rich Boy, a producer-MC who hails from Mobile, AL. In possession of a very heavy Southern accent, nearly every word from his mouth sounds like it requires most muscles above the chest to pronounce: "Just bought a Cadillac/Took it to the chop shop/Let the damn top drop/Two-colored flip-flop/Candy-red lollipop" sounds like twice the tongue twister it appears to be. Anyone looking to the album for depth beyond "Throw Some D's"' unapologetic shortage of thrift and surplus of self-indulgence will not discover much. There's the unique sound of Rich Boy's voice, and a couple beats are undeniably brilliant, such as Brian Kidd's work on the rolling/knocking "Get to Poppin" -- which, at one point, was credited to Timbaland and could've been pulled from the same drawer as Ludacris' Tim-produced "The Potion." Rich Boy's effect wears especially thin when the beats aren't hot, and there's little happening lyrically beyond uninspired variations on the rampant materialism done so effectively on "Throw Some D's." ~ Andy Kellman minimize