E-40 Gets Moated by the East Bay Express

Beginning of a rather harsh review by the East Bay Express' Rachel Swan. She lightweight goes in hard on Unc, but I think he's been had it coming. When was the last time 40 pushed the envelope? And why is he not featuring any Bay artists other than his family and Too $hort? Aren't ambassadors supposed to represent for their people? Put someone from the Bay on for once, rather than just cavorting in the South with the usual suspects.

E-40 is a shrewd businessman and competent rapper who at times verged on being a great rapper. But usually his desire to remain marketable outpaces his creativity — 40's endless repetition of certain slang words and quaint little sayings (i.e., "It ain't just bananas, it's coconuts") is more an attempt to create a brand identity than to come up with witty rejoinders.

A self-anointed hip-hop "ambassador" who's made most of his fortune in other industries (a Fatburger franchise, a "Yay Area" slang primer, a liquor line, and San Jose's now-defunct Ambassador Lounge), 40 takes few risks with his music. When he finds a successful formula, like the "hyphy" style that shaped his 2006 album My Ghetto Report Card, he'll beat it past the point of death. Which explains why this year's The Ball Street Journal — basically a Ghetto Report Card reprise — already sounds like an anachronism.

Rachel Swan goes on to to break BSJ down track by track and demonstrates how it really is a reprise of Ghetto Report Card. I haven't yet heard this album, but I wouldn't be surprised if this review is accurate.

Paris releases his new album Acid Reflex

via article in the East Bay Express

Brief excerpts below
"Listening to Paris in 2008 is like walking on the edge of a razor blade. On one side of that slippery slope, the East Bay militant rap icon continues to espouse the anger and violent revolutionary tendencies he's famous for. On the other, as evident on his new album Acid Reflex, his music grooves and swirls and lifts. It seems clear that Paris' overall direction as a musician and beat-maker is heading toward club jams, so you balance somewhere between awareness and denial. . .

"The other big dose of positivity, and possibly the biggest news story associated with any album this year, is Paris' Golden Tickets. Three copies of Acid Reflex will have Willy Wonka-style Golden Tickets worth $10,000 each, good for education or housing. "We want to involve people, create value for our community," Paris enthused."