Big B’s Wikipedia page acknowledges him as the “Official Suburban Noize Heavyweight.” And though that label more than likely refers to the fact that he happens to weigh more than any of the other artists on the rap/rock label Suburban Noize, it could just as easily refer to the fact that Big B is the Heavyweight Champion of Suburban Noize’s rather weak roster of hip-hop artists.
From the bright lights of Las Vegas, Big B has put together an eclectic, often sporadic, sometimes enjoyable, other times unbearable collection of songs on his latest album American Underdog. Typically, from what I’ve gathered over the years, there are two different types of rappers. There’s the rare and yet invaluable artist who possesses both an exceptional flow and feel for the music and is able to move us with his thought provoking rhymes, on the other hand there’s the rapper who just steps up to the mic to spit out whatever low level of vocabulary he has a grasp on. Big B though seems to fit somewhere in the middle of that description. While his flow isn’t going to wow you, and the intelligence of his lyrics surely aren’t going to stimulate your mind in any way, his feel and delivery for the various types of music that he presents on the album is pretty impressive. From hard hitting rockers to laid back jams and most everything in between (he surprisingly takes a shot or two at country), Big B shines more than not within his many various musical personalities.
You could say that Big B never really finds an identity of his own on American Underdog, you could say that it could pretty much be a mix tape of different artists with all the different styles and vocal liberties that he takes. But are fans of Big B, or this style of hip-hop in general, going to really care if he finds himself a nice little musical niche? Sure some of the songs here are so badly out of place that they should have been cut from the disc without question, the album surely would have been much more nicely rounded without them (at 19 tracks and 17 songs the disc is terribly bloated) but there are a number of people out there who believe that the more songs you get, the better deal you’re getting when you purchase the album, so you can’t blame Big B too much. By cutting away some of the excess fat, like the horrid “Hot Women” and terribly executed “Born 2 Ride,” you start to find yourself an album that a number of music fans the nation over would probably pay a bit more attention to. Songs like the chilled out album opener “To The Moon,” and the infectious “Sinner” that features a sugar coated chorus sung by Unwritten Law frontman, and fellow label mate, Scott Russo, are songs that highlight both the talent of Big B and the promise of Underdog.
Promise is the key word though; Big B’s lyrics are textbook examples of unimaginative rap rhymes. At first they’re bearable while you enjoy the adeptly performed assortment of sounds, but upon repeated plays B’s words just start to grate on your nerves. This is an unsettling fact which clearly hurts all future replayablity of the disc. Still I can’t hate on Big B too much, my expectations were quite low for the disc and I was no doubt pleasantly surprised after listening through the record. The talent and promise are clearly there for Big B, if he has the motivation and proper support I really think that he could put together a much more impressive album in the future. Here’s hoping he does just that.
"American Underdog" is on sale March 24, 2009 from Suburban Noize.
