Young Buck's Straight Out of Cashville: A Review

Within months of fellow G-Unit member Lloyd Banks' debut The Hunger for More(read review), Interscope Records released the debut album of Southern G-Unit rapper Young Buck. Southern rappers were at the top of the charts in 2004, and G-Unit's own stock was at an all-time high as well. The newest addition to 50 Cent's group had already impressed hip-hop fans with his strong verses on 2003's Beg for Mercy (read review), as well as his mixtape appearances and laid-back country flow, and thus, there was considerable anticipation for Straight Out of Cashville.

The album does not sound like a typical G-Unit album. Sure, the Unit (50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and The Game) put in their requisite appearances here as do other extended Aftermath Records family guests like DPG, Kon Artis (of D12) and Stat Quo. But there are other guests: David Banner and Lil Flip on the eerie Welcome to the South, Ludacris on the menacing Stomp, and D-Tay on Taking Hits. Typically G-Unit album instrumentals borrow rather liberally from all regions, but Straight Out of Cashville's also more Southern sonically than not. And remarkably the G-unit members weave themselves seamlessly into this southern tapestry - 50 Cent with his own laid-back flow, Banks and Yayo toning down their own deliveries for the excellent Prices on My Head and Bonafide Hustler respectively, and The Game's natural abrasiveness complementing Ludacris and Young Buck's vociferous verses on Stomp perfectly. Even Kon Artis manages to bring some Southern soul to the hook of the album's most personal track Look at Me Now.

Young Buck's debut is the first organic release from the group since 50 Cent's 2002 mixtapes. The album is less crafted to please than Get Rich or Die Tryin (read review), Beg for Mercy, or The Hunger for More. Instead the emcee takes calculated risks by including non-radio friendly tracks like Do it Like Me, Bang Bang, Thou Shall, and Black Gloves. Bang Bang sounds like it could be in a hipster flick, and Black Gloves with its stilted flow and billowing beat is easily the most exciting track on the album (Ludacris' T.I. diss on Stomp notwithstanding). A close second is the rapper's second single Shorty Wanna Ride, whose instrumental matches the grit of its music video's inspiration Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers.

It's a great album, better than Banks' excellent debut, and far better than Beg for Mercy. It even rivals Get Rich or Die Tryin as its cohesiveness plays well against 50's craftsmanship. If there is an artistic peak to G-Unit, it may well be the debut of Young buck, and if you are interested in the best they have to offer, try either this album, Get Rich or Die Tryin or The Game's debut The Documentary (read review).