Yelawolf "Radioactive" Album Review

Yelawolf's rapid lyrical assault is always a highlight, but its also his feerless-with-no-apologies attitude that I find refreshing. I was fully expecting a dope and grimey in-ya-face/bang this in your trunk-up the block type album, but was disappointed to instead hear a very polished typical "major" sound. I don't know enough about Yelawolf to call him a sellout, but it sure sounds like this entire album was constructed in the boardrooms of a major label instead of the mind of a lyrical genius bred in the Dirty South with the classic "Trunk Muzik" mixtape under his belt.

"Hard White" might enjoy some club success or maybe "Throw It Up" with the hook built for club chants, but the piano doesn't really fit well for clubs. The piano is real nice, but nice for listening at home - not so much in the club or bumpin up the block. "Good Girl" jumps off with a definite West Coast swing and the hook is dope as hell - this one might fit for radio (edited of course). "Made in the USA" really has a Kanye West vibe to the production; especially with the Priscilla Renea appearance and the strings. It's a cool track, but has that sound that you can get tired of real quick. "Animal" fits the same flavor. "Hardest Love Song in the World" is again the same mold and so is "Write Your Name". "Everything I Love the Most" is one of my top picks from the album but again is a very tame vibe. "Radio" is the damn same and by now I'm irritated with the album. I honestly wondered if this was a joke of some sort. Where the hell is the Yelawolf I heard the first time and instantly became a fan of? What's with all the polished production full of strings and pianos and tame drum kits and patterns? What's with all the damn singing features?

"Slumerican Shitizen" is the only track that really sounds like an authentic Yelawolf record with a real grimey attitude. I wasn't feelin' the Killer Mike feature and thought Yelawolf could have easily chopped him out of the record without losing any affect. That kind of sums up my overall take on the album - disapointment. If I want to hear dramatic emotional rap I can listen to Drake whine about not being hard enough or Em suffering through addiction and a shitty childhood or Kanye cry about not being liked, etc. If I want to listen to Yelawolf I'll go back to Trunk Muzik 0-60. This is not the Yelawolf I was expecting and definitely the Yelawolf I wanted to hear. Bring back that grimey southern rock/dirty south Hip-Hop blend with the "fuck yo' life" attitude and I'll be right back on the Yelawolf bandwagon...but this album shot the wheels off of all that.

Eminem – 2.0 Boys ft Slaughterhouse & Yelawolf

One of the most talked about combinations of talent all building together to create their stamp on 2011 - Eminem, Slaughterhouse, and new Shady signing Yelawolf.

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010

I’ve seen a lot of lists recapping the flood of releases in 2010 and attempting to rank them would be next to impossible for me, but I have assembled a list of 2010 Albums that you should have bought and if you haven’t, you need to get them right away. Some most notable omissions from my list are albums that had huge buzz and sold big numbers; Kanye West, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Eminem. Kanye dropped one of the most imaginative albums easily, but when I tried to roll it in my mixes I found that I really didn’t have a use for much of the album. It’s dope to listen to while you clean house, but too far out there for any practical use. If you haven’t kept up with any of my reviews or comments over the year; Drake over-saturated the market in 2010 and had me absolutely hating his voice. His album may have done well, but I didn’t think it was that great. He should focus on singing and abandon rap or at least stay the hell out my ear for 4-6 months. Nicki Minaj had a huge amount of buzz and even had me rooting for her as this generation’s Slick Rick, but her album is horrible except for one song (Did It On Em). Eminem can’t seem to do shit without including whining about problems he brought on himself. Listening to an addict cry about the pain and problems addiction brought him just isn’t entertaining to me. Diddy-Dirty Money dropped their “Last Train To Paris” album with a grip of noise and an astounding list of people touting its greatness, but I am not on that list in the least. I would pick Keri Hilson’s album over that Diddy-Dirty Money album. Feel free to fire away with your comments and tell me I’m an idiot, but these were the best albums of 2010 (in alphabetical order by artist name):

BIG BOI “SIR LUCIOUS LEFT FOOT THE SON OF CHICO DUSTY”
BUN-B “TRILL O.G”
JEREMIH “ALL ABOUT YOU”
KEITH SWEAT “RIDIN SOLO”
LLOYD BANKS “H.F.M. 2”
MARQUES HOUSTON “MATTRESS MUSIC”
NE-YO “LIBRA SCALES”
SHEEK LOUCH “DONNIE G: DON GORILLA”
SLIM THUG “THAT THUGGA SHOW”
TANK “NOW OR NEVER”
T.I. “NO MERCY”
TREY SONGZ “PASSION, PAIN, & PLEASURE”
YELAWOLF “TRUNK MUZIK 0-60”

Yes, I heard the albums from Rick Ross, the Roots, Ghostface Killah, DJ Premier, Brother Lynch Hung, B.o.B., Shad, Cannibus…but didn’t think they were better than any of those listed above. Some artists dropped what they called ‘mixtapes’ that were actually more like full albums minus all the typical work put into the press, publicity, marketing, promotion of a full album. Without including any of the mixtapes I dropped with artists in 2010 I would highly recommend these: Noah Jones “Cinematic”, J Cole “Friday Night Lights”, Tum Tum “Purp KoBain”, Wiz Khalifa “Kush and Orange Juice”, Big Sean “Finally Famous 3”, and Na'tee “Guess Who’s Coming 2 Dinner”.

YELAWOLF “TRUNK MUZIK”

Alabama’s own Yelawolf has burst on the scene with heavy endorsements and for good reason, he’s got some ill lyrical flow that’s worthy of attention on its own. I’m sure he’s going to grab all of the comparisons to previous white rappers ranging from the Beastie Boys to Kid Rock to Eminem, but if you have to use them as a reference then consider Yelawolf a dope blend of the three all ground into one ill blend of Hip-Hop. Peep Yelawolf’s flow on “Daddy’s Lambo” and you’ll hear some of the grimiest warp speed flow ever spit on wax. The lead track alone is going to stir comparisons to Kid Rock with the heavy southern rock guitar and reverbed-screams; then the beat rolling backwards is definitely going to stir the Beastie Boys comparisons. I don’t care who you compare him to – Yelawolf is fierce with his delivery, bananas with his flow, and his content ranges from comical to battle rhymes. My only knock on him is the content centered around meth and somehow spinning it to be cool. I can’t endorse that by any means. Overlooking that, I am definitely a fan of his flow and cadence and the production on the album is unique and imaginative. I need to do some homework on the producer WillPower who is responsible for 9 of the 12 songs on the album. I also need to get familiar with Rittz the Rapper who blazes his cameo on “Box Chevy”. When Yelawolf kicks in with his warp speed flow on “Good to Go” it’s just ill, then Bun B comes in with his own and the track moves up to one of my top picks from the album.

I’m going to sound like a hypocrite, but I definitely rock the “Marijuana” song and the Nirvana sample is a dope touch that pushes it up my list of top picks from the album. I can’t imagine playing “Marijuana” quietly though – you have to turn it WAY up to get the full loud from it. “Love Is Not Enough” is a great follow up to illustrate just how imaginative the album is – going from a track built around a Nirvana sample to a track featuring samples from Rick James’ “Hollywood”. For those of us who live in the south and drive I-20 on the regular “Love Is Not Enough” is definitely a song that will be on deck when we roll out. “I Wish” is another favorite from the album. The production is okay and the appearance of Raekwon carries a lot of weight, but the real highlight is Yelawolf’s flow and lyrical content. I think “I Wish” is the best definition of the entire album. For all the industry people that say the fourth quarter is typically weak – they got a lot of backpeddling to do this year. Yelawolf’s album is one of the best of 2010.




1. "Get the Fuck Up!"
2. "Daddy's Lambo"
3. "That's What We on Now"
4. "I Just Wanna Party" (featuring Gucci Mane)
5. "Billy Crystal" (featuring Rock City)
6. "Pop the Trunk"
7. "Box Chevy" (featuring Rittz the Rapper)
8. "Good to Go" (featuring Bun B)
9. "Marijuana"
10. "Love Is Not Enough"
11. "I Wish" (featuring Raekwon)
12. "Trunk Muzik"