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Chicken & Beer
10/01/2003 8:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy
Now like never before, people are listening to the self-proclaimed Mouf of the Souf. He's got a worthy nemesis in Fox News Channel pundit Bill O'Reilly, and a new national platform as a result of their battle over his aborted Pepsi sponsorship. And the Georgia MC's third album, Chicken & Beer, dishes out an earful, drawling verbal takedowns of every possible hater ("Blow It Out") and sharing more than just Ludacris's latest wet dreams (the autobiographical "Hard Times"). All the while, the good-natured pimp pantomime underscores how silly O'Reilly's attacks were; "Hip Hop Quotables" winks while baiting adults: "I curse so much just to get on they nerves." Unfortunately, the music here won't disturb anyone, as track after track of colorless bounce sabotages the memorable verses. The dead-end minimalism of club cuts like "Stand Up" and "P-Poppin'" proves that sometimes, less really is less. Only the cushy, West Coast-inspired collaboration with Snoop Dogg, "Hoes In My Room," in which a certain television personality also drops by, brings the funk to match the flow. Otherwise, Luda has so much to say--but who's going to hear it?
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