Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 07/11/2006
Rhymefest won a Grammy before he released this, his first album for
Mark Ronson's
J-distributed
Allido label. As one of the writers behind
Kanye West's
"Jesus Walks," the Chicago-raised MC gained some above-ground notoriety after several years spent paying dues as a battler (he beat
Eminem at
Scribble Jam '97) and featured guest (
Ronson's
"Bout to Get Ugly," West's
"We Can Make It Better"). And, as he is eager to point out, he hasn't been paid all that much -- he has cycled through a fair share of low-paying jobs.
Blue Collar, which involves production work from
Ronson,
West,
Just Blaze,
No I.D., and
Cool & Dre, tends to remain true to its title and establishes
Rhymefest's role as a down-to-earth, no-larger-than-life figure who happens to be exceptionally talented. With a slight lisp, his gruff voice projects several verses that are humbled and humorous without sacrificing any sense of swagger: "Blue-collar
rap, why I call it that?/Sh*t, I know more real n*ggas that U-Haul than haul crack" (
"Dynomite"); "I know I'm ahead of my time/But I'm behind on my rent" (
"Devil's Pie"); "Workin' hard for scratch/Talk sh*t, get your jaw detached" (
"All I Do"). His contradictions wouldn't be so significant if he didn't present himself in such a specific way. In
"Brand New," he proclaims "Look at all my whips, they're all vintage" and boasts about his "loft with a view of the sea," possessions that don't sound blue-collar at all, unless he's putting a clever spin on referring to a few planks in a tree and a fleet of broken-down Gremlins.
"Fever," another calculated shot at the charts, doesn't match his character either, dressed in the kind of production that would sound better behind an adolescent
pop-rapper. If you subtract the shortcomings and pay extra attention to the tracks that discuss what things are like in
Rhymefest's reality (
"More," "Sister," "Bullet"), you'll hear roughly 45 very good minutes surrounded by 15 minutes of fluff. Regard the 45 minutes as the program and disregard the remainder as the commercials.
~Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
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