One thing that
must be said about C-Murder’s recent project, TRU Dawgs, from the very beginning, is that the
supposed star of the album himself, C-Murder, only appears on five songs. So for those
true C-Murder fans looking for more material from one of their favorite artists, you
won’t find it here. But don’t click away just yet, because if you do,
you’ll be missing out on one of the best compilation albums to have come out in the
past two years. The TRU Dawgs compilation features a number of people from varying New
Orleans record labels, as well as appearances by Da Brat, Keith Murray, Snoop Dogg,
Doggy’s Angels, and BONE Thugs-N-Harmony.
The album begins with a seemingly pointless intro, and then the opening track,
“I’m A Baller”, which features C-Murder, T-Bo and a verse from Mac, who is
still incarcerated, unfortunately. This song was among the better half of songs on the
album, although it suffered from a barely passable hook. One of the most striking things
about this compilation, is that it features so many different types and styles of artists,
yet it stays away from sounding like it was hastily thrown together, or that some songs
are out of place. All of the songs here belong, and there is only really one
song….Snoop Dogg’s “Dogged Her Out”…that could be considered
wack.
Not that all of the songs are great, there are a few average ones here too, but
only Snoop’s song is wack, and that is due to a terrible beat. One of the best songs
on the album, surprisingly, is BONE’s track “Front Line Homies”. This is
one of the best tracks that BONE has done in at least 3 years, and is guaranteed to get
many rotations from those who remember when BONE was more thugs and less harmony.
Of course, what is more likely to get the most discussion in the music circles, is
the bonus track at the end of “How A Thug Nigga Likes It”. The Bonus track is a
song that features C-Murder and C-Murder only, and in the third verse, he launches a full
scale attack at Juvenile, Cash Money, and Mystikal, stating “I’m New Orleans
baby, you sweeter than honey / This TRU Records city nigga fuck Cash Money” and
“All you girls who left No Limit on bad terms? / Keep it up and we gone plant you
like Earthworms”. Beyond the disses, the song itself is also among the best, as is
the T-Bo track “Respect My Mind”.
Another one of the more surprising tracks is the track featuring XL and Curren$y,
whose album is droppin next on Tru. It was called “That Ain’t Right”, and
had an East Coast feel to it. It was one of the best tracks on the album, the first
artist impressed with lines such as “And you’ll never see me with your bitch /
Oh I got the hoe with me, you just can’t see through the tints / And I’m
beggin’ ya dog please don’t quit rappin’ / Cuz if you quit rappin’,
I’ll quit laughin’”.
In general, there was a flavor for most types of listener on this album, and there
was only one song that was wack. The track featuring Doggy’s Angels and Storm put it
down for the ladies, then Mia X and Junie B. each put it down for bounce. This is one of
the best projects that C has put his name on in a number of years, and is definitely worth
the money. |
