I got put on to B.o.B/Bobby Ray a couple of months ago and was pretty impressed. I had seen his name pop up on all the typical blogs, but had avoided actually listening for awhile. After seeing a fair amount of hype, I decided to give him a listen. As I typically do, I went back and downloaded the mixtapes he had put out earlier in his career. The older tracks really didn’t appeal to me as much as the “Mr. Bobby” track I had just downloaded. It was apparent that he was still maturing as an artist, so I excitedly awaited new releases – and when his newest mixtape dropped this past Monday, it was clear his maturation was coming along nicely.
For those who are unfamiliar, B.o.B is a hip-hop artist [producer, rapper, singer] out of Decatur, Georgia who has a split personality, Bobby Ray. Most of the time, I don’t buy the split personality gimmick (see: Marshall Mathers vs. Slim Shady or T.I vs. T.I.P.) but his mixtape B.o.B. vs Bobby Ray actual makes sense of the concept. B.o.B typically handles the rapping duties, while Bobby Ray is more into singing (and also seems to handle more of his own production). While the lines can be blurred at times, the divide between the two is fairly obvious. I probably prefer the Bobby Ray side of the tape, but both are incredibly enjoyable and deserve a listen. The B.o.B half is full of samples that would never get cleared for a full blown album – which obviously adds to its likability. I wonder if I’ll find B.o.B style tracks as fun without the clearly illegal sampling. To name a few of the tracks sampled – Three Dog Night’s “One,” Kanye West’s “Pinocchio Story”, and Soggy Bottom Boys’ “Man of Constant Sorrow.”
B.o.B – “I Am The Man” featuring OJ Da Juice Man & Bun B
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This is probably my favorite track off the first half of the mixtape, most likely due to the brilliance of the sample. It hearkens back to Outkast tracks like “Rosa Parks”, embracing real Old South instrumentation. Lyrically, the track doesn’t have anything to really write home about, but I wouldn’t say it is weak. B.o.B’s voice and flow are so unique that combined with the beat really make it an entertaining song.
Bobby Ray – “Satellite”
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Bobby Ray – “Trippin”
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The Bobby Ray half of the tape relies much less on vocal sampling and instead turns to produciton largely done by Bobby Ray himself. It is this part of B.o.B/Bobby Ray’s musicianship that really makes me respect him as an artist. These tracks are so atypically mainstream hip-hop, yet so appealing to a mainstream an audience – its not a surprise he gets comparison to another product of Decatur, Andre 3000. The tracks can at times seem otherworldly (“Satellite”) while others have an obvious Caribbean influence (“Mr. Bobby”, “Trippin”). Its spectacular how diversely talented B.o.B is, it will be interesting to see if he can display all of these talents on his major release this Fall. A DJ free version of the mixtape can be found here.
Posted by the Groove
