B.O.B.'s B.O.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray: A Review

After several years of releasing sterling, album quality material on album-like mixtapes (see B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray - read review or Shoulda Been My First Album - read review, among others), the youngster known as B.o.B., signed to T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records, and with a publishing deal with Eminem's Slim Shady Music Publishing, LLC, recently released his debut album B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, an album which largely lives up to the potential he has displayed, and should be a top contender for any debut album of the year award.

Early public comparisons to Andre 3000 of Outkast are largely due to his penchant of combining crooning with rapping, and his candor. Lyrically, he is not quite there yet (how many can match Andre's skill level?), though he is definitely, bar-for-bar, one of the more promising rookies of his generation. His talent lies in his knack for creating records that are both a natural extension of his earlier work, and have tremendous crossover appeal. The first two records, Don't Let Me Fall and Nothin On You, are instantly catchy records, and the latter, the first single, has done wonders for his profile, as has his second single Airplanes. But just in case, you think that's all there is to the album, there are many surprises in store. How many rappers (besides Drake) get such high caliber features on their debut as Eminem, Lupe Fiasco, and T.I.? Each rapper complements the rookie with typical high-quality, though not overwhelming verses. But the less expected guests provide just as much, if not more heft, particularly Rivers Cuomo of Weezer who provides an indelible hook to Magic, Ricco Barrino, who does the same on 5^th Dimension,and Janelle Monae who makes her presence felt on The Kids.

It should be noted that B.o.B. has talked often on mixtapes and in interviews of the dichotomy between B.o.B., the rapper and Bobby Ray, the artists, the latter being more prone to singing and usage of experimental production. In fact, the B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray mixtape is devoted to exploring that dichotomy. So it's not too surprising, given the title, that both B.o.B. and Bobby Ray, are on full display, with just a bit more of the latter. This work is both the emcee on display on more traditional hip-hop records like Fame and Bet I, featuring T.I. and Playboy Tre, and the artist on display on records like Lovelier Than You, Ghost in the Machine and The Kids. Most of the tracks have a decidedly commercial feel, which is not unexpected for fans of his previous mixtapes, as B.o.B. has demonstrated a range that encompasses both hip-hop and pop sensibilities, but unlike on many of those tracks, here, B.o.B. has married his experimentation perfectly with songwriting like Outkast.

Where ...The Adventures of Bobby Ray fails is length. Too often artists clutter albums with reams of uncompelling material, and others consciously shorten their tracklistings to either create a compact, cohesive album, or give the illusion thereof. But an artist of B.o.B.'s range, and considerable talent, could have easily included a few more tracks without compromising the overall quality of the album, perhaps a few of his mixtape staples, such as I'll Be in the Sky, Mellow Fellow, Mr. Bobby, or Satellite. For an album with only 12 tracks, the inclusion of both Airplanes and Airplanes Part 2 (the only difference between the two being that the latter features a verse from Eminem that is a notch below his current work on Recovery - read review), is simply a waste. Airplanes Part 2 is also not a natural closer for an album with as uptempo as this one.

But this is a minor quibble - really, there is little to complain about. The album is exciting, and pushes hip-hop's boundaries like Outkast in the nineties, and Drake, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi today. Difference between Thank Me Later (read review), Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon: End of the Day, Lil Wayne's Rebirth and B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray is that the latter album is just much stronger - lyrically and artistically. It's indeed one of 2010's stronger offerings, and has set the bar rather high not only for other emcees, but also for B.o.B.'s future career.