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It took Trick
Daddy two years to follow up the great Thug
Matrimony, and while that doesn't seem like much
to most folks, in pre-release interviews Trick was
apologetic and promising this album will be
followed up next year; no long wait.
After a couple
of spins it becomes apparent that Back by Thug
Demand is a very good album but short of being one
of his best. The problem seems to be Trick's
over-anxiousness to get back in the game and prove
he's still vital. This attitude makes for one
hungry, down-low beast of an album, but the
overall product isn't as well crafted as Thug
Matrimony and even if the redundant numbers are
shuffled skillfully into the play list to help
hide them, they are there.
Luckily the
highlights are all hard winners, sometimes with
that Trick wit and sometimes with his gargantuan,
intimidating attitude. The good-timing "So High"
finds the rapper working some "this is your
captain speaking"-type airline talk into a
polished bud smokers anthem, while "Straight Up"
with Young Buck is just about the most fun you can
have while threatening a rival crew.
"Lights Off" is
Trick at his trashy, strip-club best while both
"Bet That" and "Tuck Ya Ice" have inescapable
hooks with high-profile guests -- Chamillionaire
and Baby, respectively -- giving their all.
The skits with
the character Kiki are back and still funny, and
at 15 tracks it's a pleasingly tight album, at
least when compared to the over-stuffing that ran
rampant across hip-hop full-lengths in 2006. While
it's not as ambitious or astonishing as the last
one, if Trick's plans were to hold it down and
keep the longtime fans happy, Back by Thug Demand
is a success.
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