We’re going to do
something different for this review. I rarely use
the word “I” when reviewing. I feel it’s
unprofessional, and projects a higher degree of
bias than needed for an objective music review.
But, under these circumstances, I’ve decided to
bend the rule, and use the word “I” with reckless
abandon.
With that, I feel it is important to say, that in
the three years that I have been reviewing for
this site, three South Park Mexican albums have
been presented to me to review, gaining ratings
of, in order, 4.5, 4, and 5 stars. In these days,
I honestly believe he is one of the only artists
that manages to consistently put a new and fresh
spin on material that has been around since the
days of N.W.A., and who churns out albums that are
no less than solid (and often much more) at a
factory like pace.
Never Change, however, the Seventh-album from
Houston born Carlos Coy, a.k.a. South Park
Mexican, stands out as an accident in production.
It is not a bad album, but coming on the heels of
what could arguably Coy’s best album, and a strong
track record, it is undoubtedly the worst of his
albums- and why would you settle for a Taurus just
because it has a Cadillac emblem on the
hood?Falling far below expectations, Never Change
failed in nearly every way that Time Is Money
succeeded. Time Is Money, Coy’s December 2000 most
recent previous release, managed to take all of
his strengths, and emphasize them, while
eliminating the minor flaws that existed in his
previous albums. Never Change, by comparison,
seems to use many strengths in SPM’s music, to a
disadvantage. There was extremely poor use of
singing throughout most of the album, and using
singers to an advantage is one of the unique
things about SPM’s music that helps him stand out
positively from the others. His voice, another
quality that sets him apart positively, was simply
intolerable in songs such as “Habitual Criminal”.
Even formulas that have worked in the past for
him, just weren’t up to par for the new album.
“Hubba Hubba”, the song that he alluded to in Time
Is Money’s “He’s A Bird, He’s A Plane” (“My next
big hit’s called Hubba Hubba Hubba”), is very
similar in style to “Wiggy”, a song that was on
1999’s The 3rd Wish. Complete with Baby Beesh, it
is almost exactly like “Wiggy” with one exception
- “Wiggy” was a good song, and “Hubba Hubba” is
not.
Production, never a problem on Dopehouse Records
releases, was a problem on this album. For
whatever the reason, it seemed that all of the
things that make SPM a credible and strong artist,
failed for this album. Adding insult to injury,
there are two skits, and three screwed versions
songs, which cut the amount of songs on the album
to a meager twelve.
Despite the disappointing nature of the album, it
wasn’t all bad. Far and away the best track on the
album was the final song, “The System”. On a beat
that fit the subject matter, which is the
trappings of the American social system, South
Park Mexican does what he does best and he did it
well- put his own unique and introspective spin on
street life. The third verse of this song is one
of SPM’s best verses in my estimation:
“Ninety-nine percent of all criminals and dope
dealers / Get busted by bullets or fuckin’
squealers / And the one percent that made it, was
pure luck / And even he’ll admit that his life
wasn’t worth a fuck / Cuz in his mind he was
caught a thousand times / And in his mind he was
shot a thousand times / Without peace there can be
no happiness / I wear a cross ‘round my neck like
the Catholics / I’m not sure exactly what my
religion is / I just know I thank God for my
little kids / The system got us sellin’ drugs like
some guinea pigs / Then they arrest us, after we
done made it big / They take our money, our cars,
and our houses / Now tell me who’s really sellin’
the ounces? / And any cash, that we might have
hidden / Goes to the system tryin’ to stay out of
prison”
In addition to “The System”, is “Screens Falling”,
the opening track, which in flow-style seems to
resemble Dr. Dre’s opening track for his previous
album, entitled “The Watcher”. SPM opens the song
almost but not quite rambling about different
views he has on things in life, similar to Dre’s
near-rambling at the beginning of “The Watcher”.
Beyond those two songs, “Bloody War”, “Broadway”,
and “I Must Be High” are other good tracks on the
album.
And so here I sit, the reviewer. To be truthful to
you, the reader, I am a tremendous fan of this
man’s music. I try to keep this fact as
inconspicuous as possible when reviewing, but it
is a truth of the matter. All six of his albums to
this point, enjoy steady rotation for me, even
though the first of them is now six years old. And
it is because of my personal investment in his
music that I’ve chosen to use the word “I”
frivolously in this review, because I was honestly
and truly both disappointed, and even hurt by this
product, specifically on the heels of the
masterpiece that was Time Is Money. I expect
nothing but the best from South Park Mexican, and
this was clearly not. As previously stated, the
album was not a bad one, but it also was not good,
and any other SPM album would be a better choice
to purchase than Never Change.
They say that every dog has his day, but in the
case of SPM, his day seems to be every day, and
with this album, this dog had a day off. I will
remain on standby for album number eight, which
I’m sure will bring a new day, and better fortune. |
