Posted on: August 4, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Young Stunna – The Best of Me / 2007 RJM / 19 Tracks / http://www.rjmrecords.com /

There are a number of independent rappers that are trying to ply their trade in the current perio.d So many of them suck that it means finding a halfway decent rapper is a shore in and of itself. Many times, there are a few strong tracks on a disc and about ten times the amount of chaff present. This could be through having too many tracks, having individuals guest on a track that should never get near a mic, and having lackadaisical backing beats that do nothing for the flow of the rapper.

While the introduction to the track is nothing special, it seems like Young Stunna steps up eir game during the second track on “The Best of Me”, “I’m Back”. The backing beat highlights the best parts of Stunna’s vocals but there is not enough in the way of variation in either the backing beat or the flow to merit the track passing the four minute mark. In a nutshell, this is a solid track, but is not one that should take up four minutes. The flow changes up a number of times during “Hey Skoolboy”, but the flow is very non descript and does not provide much in regards to benefiting the flow. Young Stunna seems to be getting the pieces together during “The Best of Me”, but there are oftentimes one or two minor things that hold eir back from having a complete success with a track.

By the time that “There’s No More You” starts, one starts to get a sense that Young Stunna does not like to vary up the overall style of eir flow much throughout the entirety of the disc. The same half-whispered flow is present from “I’m Back” all the way to “You A Thug”, and while it does provide some rapper recognition (similar to brand recognition) and cohesion to the disc, there is little present to spice up late disc tracks like “Six Fou” and “Don’t Have Time”. A strength to “The Best of Me” is the fact that there are no skits to break up the momentum that Stunna has accumulated up to that point. While there are few tracks here that shine brightly enough to bring Young Stunna attention, the disc acts perfectly well in the “average album” category. Keep listening to Young Stunna, but avoid this album. Ey has talent, but it does not show itself clearly throughout.

Top Tracks: I Talk Money, Six Fou

Rating: 5.5/10

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