Search - :: Across The Water

Baby Boy da What?

Person | across the street | 03/20/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I honestly don't know why I picked up Baby Boy's album. Maybe I thought it had a chance because he's from New Orleans or something. Anyway, I followed this album through "The Way I Live", and that song should've already told me to stay away. To me that song is madd overrated since the beat is corny and all Baby Boy raps about how much money he has. So, I guess because of inner feeling, I decided to look into Across the Water, and I very much recommend you to stay on the side of the water you are on, or in other words, stay far away from this.



One very big problem that is simple to point out is the album is all about sex. Now, occasionally, and if done right, acts like Pretty Ricky can pull this off. (And maybe the Ying Yang Twins are occasionally tolerable.) However, Baby Boy does not this go around, so many songs sound skippable right from the beginning. Probably the best example being "Good Juge", which is just offensively sexual, that covers a sex story (Yes, as in every action done), and really the song doesn't go anywhere. The production is okay for clubs, but even then the song's production sounds unfinished and as a whole the song is filler. (Okay, not saying much but...) "Slide In Slide Out" goes into what the title suggests. The beat on this song is very nice and banging, but, not so good when you have such a boring and ridiculous chorus "Let me slide in/let me slide out". Also some unaccredited girl comes in through the chorus, and she sang so badly that I couldn't make a word out of her. "Lock You Down" is another sexual song, which has weak lyrics ("Get outta my face before I catch me a case/I shouldn't have been f--king with you in the first place", WHAT?), and Baby Boy sounds like... I hate to say this but...Chingy. It is hard to understand what he is rapping most of the time. It's also difficult to understand what he is rapping in "Marrero", especially in the chorus (which is by the way very weak, with the repeating of "What the f--k marrero". AZLyrics hasn't entered in the CD yet so I still have no idea if that's what he's rapping, I mean, it's pretty bad if you don't know what a rapper is trying to express). The production is also pretty lame, and sounds like a Lil' Jon wannabe beat gone absolutely wrong in every way. And even more sexuality continues with "Rollin' To Det", which has a confusing title and a confusing song that you know starts off wrong when the first line to the verse is "I'm trying to get laid." Again Baby Boy uses the overused topics of sex. And as the song goes on he tries to bring up the subject of cars and still fails to hold my interest throughout the repeated Chingy-like disorganized production. Confusion continues when you think...which one is it, cars or sex? (Not that one is better than the other.) And even when Baby Boy tries to make a song for the ladies or show his softer side with "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (The Proposal Song)", it goes off completely into weak-rap-ballad land ("Your my everything/and my everything is you"?), and once again has to include some sexual theme onto the side. Baby Boy makes weak I love you raps and goes off into wanting to taste his women. More for-the-ladies songs that should be passed on continues with a collaboration with Nina Sky titled "They Don't Know" (won't touch an easy joke with the title), but don't get your hopes up, they surely still can't sing very well. This song takes more of an R&B jazz direction, and sounds just like Nelly's "Dilemma"--unfortunately that song had a better collaboration and a slightly better rapper. Baby Boy still spits weak raps that leans towards the ladies but is so uninteresting and "been there, done that".



More problems continue when he makes "haters" songs that flat out suck and are a bore to listen to, like with "Do What It Do", which is ridiculously repetitive in its chorus, repeating the song title and the verses talk about haters. But this does make me wonder, does he have any haters? (And don't comment my review saying I am because this album is really bad.) What's the point of making a song about haters when he does not really have any? Anyway, the song has congested and terrible production that sounds overly synthed and suffers from a lame chorus. And if you thought some of the rappers on Dipset (Jim Jones, Cam'Ron, etc.) albums had weird names, how about Dappa, Marty Bee and Lil' Hidda? "Who Sheed" is ridiculously confusing, and sounds like a wanna-be "Drop It Like It's Hot". And, at least where I live, sheed isn't really a word. Somehow this is another "hater" song, where Baby Boy raps that if ni--as talk s--t then "who sheed". Don't question me, I'd give you an answer if I were to have one. The production is okay, and it might work for club, but I'd hunt down an instrumental rather than scratch you head all day wondering who came up with this word. (I don't know, is it New Orleans slang?) And if you wanted more "I have a ton of money so I'm going to brag about it." songs like "The Way I Live", you can just look up the song that follows it, "Naw Meen". It's just awful, pathetic, and a poor way to start off an album after the hit single "The Way I Live". The production is awful and sounds like a combination of Mims's "This Is Why I'm Hot" and Dem Franchize Boyz's "I Think They Like Me". And Baby Boy doesn't add much to the song other than contributing a few raps about how much money he has and for haters to stop hating. "Rich Boy", is yet another song that literally takes the words out of "The Way I Live" about hustling hard and have a ton of money to blow. You know why does every Southern rapper seem to have some sort of hustling song on their album? I mean, none of them come off well at all, and this one surely doesn't. As a matter of fact it sounds like a watered down "The Way I Live". Again, at least its tolerable, but tolerable is mediocre too.



Despite all the terrible music shown above, there's still a few songs labeled "tolerable", and one of them would be "Fist Rock", which has a catchy beat and although Baby Boy just seems to be trying to pull some sort of dance craze, it's still a halfway decent song. Another tolerable song is "A Rose", although it is a very confusing story about Baby Boy finding out his kids aren't really his and finds out his girlfriend is cheating on him. Now wait a minute, that might be the best song lyrically on the album. Unfortunately, the song suffers from a boring, unfinished sounding production, and Baby Boy is still a bit difficult to understand.



All in all, Baby Boy's album is something best left alone. I wasn't expected to be impressed by the album, but I neither expected it to be so bad. Baby Boy is hard to understand while he is rapping, production is dime a dozen, and this album doesn't really cover anything but sex and the typical hustling songs. If you want to stay away from bad music, I'd suggest you stay on the side of the water you are on. 1 star.



Track Picks:

You thought there was one?"

Easily one of the worst of 2007

F. Auguste | 04/08/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I wont give you the speech about what is wrong with hop hop and what this album has to do with that but I will say this....save your money. Im happy I had napster and was able to hear every track. This album is forgettable and not in a neutral way...The track " The way I feel," honestly should have kept me away (on 2nd thought) but I decided to give it a chance and listen to it and once again this proves the radio stations in my city havent got a clue...glad im movin... ( I can only hope hot 97 isnt playing this)"

Across the water and into mediocrity

E.J. Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 11/25/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Baby Boy da Prince - Across the Water (Universal Republic, 2007)



"The Way I Live" was a banger and which made me look into this album. I thought, here's a newcomer from the South who actually shows some promise. But boy, was I wrong.



Basically, everything that can be wrong with a rap album happens here: the only good songs are the singles, ("The Way I Live and, to a lesser extent, "Naw Meen"), too many skits--none of them good, and clichéd subject matter. Nothing about this rapper separates him from the other baby boys out there. Bottom line, if you had a choice between buying this album and buying extra diapers for your kid, buy the diapers. -EJR"