One hit wonder. Radio music. Andre 3000 knockoff. What do these terms have in common? They're all labels that have been associated with upcoming hip-hop artist B.o.B. at one point in his early career. I'll be honest. I used to hate B.o.B. - I thought he was lame, unoriginal, and he sounds just like Andre 3000. Then I heard "Haterz Everywhere" in 2007. I was impressed. Truly. So I called him a One hit wonder. Then I heard "I'll Be in the Sky" in 2008. It was a great song. Truly. So I called his music Radio music.Then I remembered driving in my car, when a song came on the radio. It was "Nothing on You" by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars. I downloaded it. It wasn't bad. Then it turned into a a radio SMASH. Now, as it sits at number 1 on the iTunes Top 100 songs, I wonder if I was wrong. I can't turn on my radio for more than 10 minutes without hearing that song somewhere on a station. I'm happy for B.o.B. But has he changed my opinion of him? Is his album any good?
I don't like admitting I'm wrong. It's just not something I do often. You often have to torture an apology out of me. But I was wrong this time. It almost gives me carpal tunnel to type that, but it's the truth. B.o.B.'s album is my favorite rap album of the year so far. What he's created here is different from a lot of the rap out there. He incorporates strings, synths, a piano, and a guitar into a song, and it works. It works WELL. The album begins with "Don't Let Me Fall", a slow song that accelerates thanks to a great set of swirling guitar work. It's one of the standouts, and a song that plays to B.o.B.'s great voice. The next song is "Nothin' on You", a song I'm sure you've all heard if you have any type of radio or computer. It's a great song, one of the best of the year. Bruno Mars is the standout on this song, with his great sung vocals being the catchiest part, along with B.o.B. rapping "Nuh nuh nuh nothing on you, baby". It's catchy, it's fun, and it's sweet. Everything a smash song should be, and they've created one here. "Past My Shades" is the next song, and it features underground sensation Lupe Fiasco, a rapper who has made a name for himself through 2 amazing albums thanks to his clever wordplay and differential subject matter. Lupe and B.o.B. have matching styles, it just took Mr. Bobby Ray, as he so quaintly calls himself, a little longer to get out of the starting gate. We haven't heard much out of Lupe in awhile, and now that he's poised to deliver his 3rd album, Lasers, he seems to be reentering the game. In his verse we have karate, sunglass, and throwing chains in the crowd references. It's refreshing to hear him. The song itself has a funk like groove, with a thumping bass line and a grinding background guitar that compliment an almost jazz like beat.
The next song is one of my two favorites, it's called "Airplanes" and it features Hayley Williams of Paramore. What begins with a piano intro and handclaps turns into a guitar filled song that features one of my favorite lines of the year sung by Williams in the chorus, as she sings "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now". As I write this, the song is number 2 on the iTunes Top 100 song chart. It's a heartfelt song about disappointment yet optimism, and the mix of piano and guitar are touching and depressing at the same time. This is the first time Williams has been on a rap song, and it's a great debut. Her vocals are strong, and it's not the first time that a contemporary rock artist is featured in a song here. Following Airplanes is a song called "Bet I" which features T.I. and Playboy Tre. T.I., fresh out of jail for gun possession, is hungry, and it shows in this song. B.o.B. is his most arrogant here and it's great to see him act cocky because so far he deserves it. The chorus goes "Matter fact, give me 15 minutes and a pack of bud and I bet I buzz" . I'm sure that it's not a coincidence that this song was released on 4/20, the national Smoke Pot holiday. Playboy Tre is only decent in this song, and he doesn't have much to brag about in a song that's about to be about bragging about what you have. The next song is "Ghost in the Machine". First thing I thought of was "Is this an outtake on the Kid Cudi album that got thrown to B.o.B.?". And trust me, that's not a bad thing. A different style for Bobby Ray here, this song is weird and eccentric, yet amusing and somewhat catching. However, it comes off as somewhat forgettable. The next song is one of the ones that stoodout the most to me, it's a song called "The Kids" and it features Janelle Monae on backing vocals. It directly samples "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" by indie sensation Vampire Weekend. From the beat to the lyrics in the chorus, this song has Vampire Weekend written all over it. Check out the original if you haven't, and B.o.B.'s version is also pretty good. It's obvious that Bobby Ray knows his stuff when it comes to knowing Indie music, as the next song is called "Magic" and it features Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo who sings the chorus "I've got the magic in me" and it's one of the best vocal performances on the album. This is my other favorite song on the album, and it incorporates a Weezer feel along with B.o.B.'s take. The chorus is backed by a nice synth that would make MGMT proud, and it helps give the song an almost rock n' roll flavor.
As we get to the third part of the album, I keep thinking "I'm waiting to be disappointed". I don't know, maybe I'm just pessimistic in general, or maybe it was my earlier sentiment coming out that I thought he was just taking Andre 3000's vocal style and making it his own. But I wasn't disappointed yet, so I was waiting. The next song is "Fame", a B.o.B. solo song that addresses how others want fame and Bobby Ray doesn't, and he doesn't understand why others do crazy things such as plastic surgery or drugs to get famous. It's a good sense of realism, and it has a nice R&B feel to it. B.o.B. is signed to Grand Hustle Records, which is T.I.'s record label. The reason I say that is because I never would have guessed if he didn't shout out "Pimp Squad on Deck" in this song near the end. I never would have guessed. The next song is called "Lovelier Than You" which finds B.o.B. reminiscing on a past girlfriend, and he wishes he good "turn back the hands of time" and go back to her. It's touching, yet also sad that he's lost her. His voice sounds great here, and works well with the sentiment of the track.
The last song of the album is "Airplanes Pt. 2". Let me be honest. I used to hate tracks that are labeled with the "Part 2" logo. I thought they were unoriginal, more like a remix of a song than a redoing. So I was automatically biased to hate this song before I heard it. It just doesn't work for rap, and should just be titled "Remix". But this is actually a great song. The chorus is the same as the original Airplanes, and the real surprise here is that this song features EMINEM along with Hayley Williams of Paramore. His verse is welcome, and the whole feel of the song has changed. The original was about looking for change in the present, and the new one is about "wondering if the past was different" and has each artist bring their own feel to each verse. Eminem's verse is brilliant, some of his most touching and honest work since "Beautiful" off of Relapse or even "When I'm Gone" off of his Curtain Call: The Greatest Hits album. It's a great song, and a great close to the album.
So was I wrong? Yes, very wrong. But I had a right to be a skeptic, just like many others did. In a world full of copy cat artists, it's made many skeptical. But instead of attacking the people who doubted him, B.o.B. delivered an early contender for Best Rap Album, or maybe even Album of the Year. The whole album has a diverse feel, and all of the songs work. I haven't had an album, especially a rap album, be this consistent in awhile that I can listen to all the way through and not have the urge to skip any songs. Also, if you can, get the iTunes version of the album. It has a bonus track called "Satellite" which I feel should have been included on the album. It's spacey, dark, yet a great song. It's another song that feels just like a Kid Cudi song. It should have made the cut. So is the album perfect? No, nothing's perfect. But there are those who get close. And this gets close. Trust me, I really wanted Bobby Ray to fail. But he didn't. And I'm happy that he didn't, cause he gave us The Adventures of Bobby Ray. I'll be listening to this for a long time. Recommended tracks: Nothing on You, Airplanes, Magic, Past My Shades, Bet I, and Satellite (iTunes Bonus Track).
Final Grade: A
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