Bobby Ray's B.O.B. Vs. Bobby Ray Mixtape: A Review

With record labels unwilling to commit to album releases, aspiring hip-hop artists often are relegated to releasing mixtape after mixtape to get enough material to the public to promote themselves and to be ablt to get concert gigs. Often, artists may spend years on the mixtape circuit, as they are overshadowed by other more established artists. Because of this, the overall quality of mixtapes has increased to the point where many feature original production, rather than verses over current, trendy, or classic beats. But because there are so many aspirants, you often have to wade through dozens of mixtapes to find anything of quality. However, one new 20-year-old artist, known alternately as B.o.B. and Bobby Ray, has put out two compelling collections of material in the past eight months. The first Who the ... is B.o.B.? was an introduction to this musical wunderkind, who not only raps, but sings and plays the trumpet as well. The latest, B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray, features a combination of rap tracks, helmed by B.o.B., the rapper, and hybrid tracks, helmed by Bobby Ray, the musician.

Now, relatively few rap artists have done the split personality thing well. For one, the duality concept may work well for a song or two (see the classic Gimme the Loot by Notorious B.I.G. or Eminem's My Darling off his recent Relapse LP). But when artists try to extend it for fifty minutes or more, it quickly becomes tedious (see Cassidy's Split Personality, or T.I.'s T.I. vs. T.I.P.). Much of the problem is that there simply is not that much difference in the two conflicting personalities presented by a particular artist; rather the artists usually depict competing impulses rather than wholly differing personalities, so you get a number of thematically redundant tracks with relatively little insight. What sets this work apart is that B.o.B. is a unique rapper, and Bobby Ray is an even more unique musician. Though "B.o.B." "argues" with "Bobby Ray" on some of the album's skits, the dichotomy is not the mixtape's major preoccupation.

B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray favorably recalls the duality of Outkast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below, with B.o.B. building upon the progressive hybrid funk-rap music of Speakerboxxx, and Bobby Ray channeling the eclectic and trippy musicality of Andre 3000 on The Love Below...except with more rapping than the Outkast. B.o.B. is not quite the lyricist that Andre 3000 is (who is?): he has not quite mastered Andre's gift for ellipsis and his imagery is a bit less sharp. But he is no slouch at all on the mic at all, being equally gifted with metaphor and storytelling as he is with melody. As with most rappers, B.o.B. does his fair share of bragging and boasting, but this is tempered by a considerable amount of introspection, some of it angst, much of it much deeper. And because the musical palette is so rich, particularly on the second half of the mixtape, his musings transcend those of most 20-year old lyricists, as well as (sadly) those of many lyricists much older.

His range is outstanding, as the two halves clearly embrace differing musical aesthetics. Indeed, what has been so surprising and refreshing about this relative newcomer is just how effortlessly his music crosses genres. Here, the rap tunes (B.o.B.'s half) sample country music, rock (Three Dog Night's One on One featuring T.I.'s compatriots Big Kuntry and Mac Boney) and blues (Muddy Waters' I Am a Man on the excellent I Am the Man featuring Bun B and OJ Da Juiceman for example). There's R& B and soul too, most notably on Change Gonna Come, of course sampling Sam Cooke's immortal A Change is Gonna Come, and featuring fellow rookies Charles Hamilton and a ridiculously flowing Asher Roth. The one complaint about the B.o.B. half is that the first half is full of guests, many of whom B.o.B. simply outclasses.

If you are less interested in rap, you can go straight to the second half, beginning with Satellite. Bobby Ray's half pulls from jazz, electronica, soul, funk, and other musical genres. Highlights include Satellite, Wonderland, Mr. Bobby, oh, just go down the list. You won't be disappointed.

The unfortunate possibility is that, given the state of the rap industry, by the time B.o.B. is able to release a proper studio album, he may either run out of material or inspiration. Because this mixtape feels like a studio album, some familiar beats notwithstanding, as did his others. (In fact, each time I was to type "mixtape" in this review, I wound up writing "album"). B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray outpaces many a recently released studio album in terms of ambition and scope. It is not quite a mature work, but it is a maturing work, like say ATLiens before Aquemini, and as such it is quite a joy to hear. Download it here or listen to it here.

View my other Associated Content music reviews here.