Blue Collar (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Rhymefest

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Great lyricism and production
Disadvantages:	Some collaborations let it down

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

"Blue Collar" is the debut album from the Chicagan rapper, Rhymefest. It came out in 2006 after he broke out of being simply an underground freestyle rapper around Chicago by collaborating with Kanye West on a track named "Brand New", which gain him much attention and got him some mainstream attention.

1. "Feel Free" (Intro)

2. "Dynomite"

Just Blaze gets things going as he comes out with a strong composition to get you ready for Rhymefest's raps on this album. On it, you get 'Fest display why he was able to attract so much attention when MCing on the underground circuit.

**Three Stars**

3. "Brand New"

This was the banger which launched Rhymefest's career as a recording artist, and it has him coming out with some amazing flow. He works off Kanye brilliantly, and the funky beat which Ye provides ensures that Rhymefest is able to come out with something fresh and exciting to make him stand out in the crowd of other Hip Hop acts.

**Five Stars**

4. "Fever"

It wasn't until I went back to this album when I remembered that Rhymefest released another single from this album, and here it is. On this one he takes on ome beats from No I.D. and he comes out with a funky track, which has a classy feel to it as it uses a sample of La Lupe's "Fever" in it, givng a Latin feel to the tune, without over-powering it.

**Four Stars**

5. "All I Do"

This one has Rhymefest showing exactly what he is capable of as his writing skills are put to the test. You have him really makign the most out of the beats and flowing to his full potnetial. It sounded as if he did it straight off his head, and despite the fact that this may come up with chaotic results, he controls it all and comes out with a great resulting tune.

**Four Stars**

6. "Get Down"

No I.D. comes up with an exciting piece of Hip Hop production for 'Fest on this one, and you cannot deny that he knows what he's doing as he has worked with countless other top names in this, and the R&B game. From here, the rapper flows to match it, displaying the Mid-West scen varies from the other three Hip Hop hotspots in America.

**Four Stars**

7. "More"

You have him collaborating with Knay on this one, and this one seems to have the same sort of sound which you heard on Kanye's debut release ("The College Dropout"), the only difference being that the beat was made by Cool & Dre. They seem to come out with something well-constructed, and allow the best to come out of the Chicagan duo.

**Four Stars**

8. "Chicago-Rillas"

To me, this track was just all worng. It had nothing good going on in it as he comes out with some Gangsta Rap, but it is really uneffective as some unknown MC, Bump J raps with soem of the most terrible rhymes I've heard in a professional cut. 'Fest saves it, but generally, it is a weak tune.

**Two Stars**

9. "Stick"

On this one you get Animal House bring the most amazing mix of classic Hip hop beats on this one. When you go for something like this, it is always goign to work, and as it goes through various eras of the genre, you get a full feel of the progression it has gone through. This is an uplifter, and a great part track for Hip Hop heads.

**Five Stars**

10. "All Girls Cheat"

On this one, Rhymefest collaborates twith the R&B star, Mario and on it, his amazing vocals are used in a different way to what you would usually expect as he uses it to sing about how girls cheat, and not only this, but that they do it more than men. Rhymefest's storytelling skills come out as he goes from here to give examples of how he discovered this from his own experiences.

**Four Stars**

11. "Devil's Pie"

After collaborating with him on his debut album, "here Comes The fuzz", Mark Ronson does the production for this track, and he shows how talented he was in the Hip Hop field, prior to a switch into the Pop scene. The rapper is forced to change his approach, but he seems to cope well as he adapts to something he probably hasn't tried out before.

**Four Stars**

12. "Sister"

On this one you have "Intimate Friends" by Eddie Kendricks used as part of the sample, and I thought that it worked perfectly with the emotive nature of this tune. That particular sample is only known to me as part of a Drum & Bass remix, but it seems to do its job when slowed down to its origianl tempo.

**Three Stars**

13. "Mr. Blue Collar" (Interlude)

14. "Bullet"

This one is a motivational track by the MC, in this one he tells us the story of a kid who went into the military in order to get a scholarship into university, but was killed in batetl before beign given the chance to fulfil this wish he has had. It Is an emotive, thought-provoking one from him, and shows how many differnt things he can do with his raps.

**Four Stars**

15. "Tell A Story"

I liked this one as Rhymefest comes with a nice track, in which he tries to uplift people, when he is fully aware that life can really bring you down at times. The sample of The New Birth's "You Don't Have to Be Alone" (famously used in Lil' Wayne's "La La La") is able to capture the emotions of someone on a downer, and posses the power to bring them up again.

**Three Stars**

16. "Build Me Up"

Mark Ronson does the production on this one too and he decides to go for something very different once again as he goes for a remixed version of "Build Me Up Buttercu" on this one, so you have the late Ol' Dirty B*****d sing a painful cover of the song, before 'Fest rescues things with some strong raps.

**Four Stars**

I didn't know what to expect from this album, considering the fac that I had heard so little material from him in the past, however I have to say that I was pleasantly surprising by how strong the release was. This one has a strong leading single, and lots of other bangers to back it up. There are only a few ocassions when I would have ot say that I wasn't really feeling him, but I thought that this was good since I expected a much lower standard than what he presented.