Are Crime Mob all that hated on, or is it just mostly by me? Well just from looking at their Amazon page it seems this reviewer is not the only one. Review titles range from "The South has to stop releasing crap!" to "Very offensive and bad" to this writer's personal favorite "You ain't gangsta, you a bitch with a beat!" Fair enough, it seems that Crime Mob can in fact argue they are "Hated on Mostly." The hatred hasn't stopped people from bumping their latest huge crossover hit "Rock Yo Hips" though:

"I like it when she rock, her hips, then wave, and sip
She rock, her hips, then wave, and sip
She rock, her hips, she rock, her hips
She rock, her hips, then Wave, and sip

Hey look at them hips (look at them hips)
I like how she rock it (she rock it)
She bend that thing over and to the ground she be droppin
And pop it hard as she can (okay)
Got me hard in the pants, because she all in her stance
Doin her motherfuckin dance man (AY!)
Look, lil' buddy cute in the face
She rock her hips to the bass, she take a sip then she wave
And wanna get wit Lil Jay, after she dance on that pole
I pull my cash so quick and fast when that ass hit the flo'"

Lil Jay is clearly the star of this shit, as he turns in the best performance lyrically and also produced the beat for this 2007 club anthem. Production is only area where Crime Mob can be reasonably expected to excel, and they do come through in large part this time around. 'Doc Jam' Treadwell does a slowed up crunkdafied beat for "Shine Cause I Grind" and chooses soulful stuttering samples from "Going in Circles" for the similarly named "Circles" that make it mostly hard to hate on his work. Lil Jay is learning how to get his Lil Jon on and definitely knows how to "Represent" and get you to throw your "Sign in the Air." Other musical contributors step up to the plate with big beats too - DJ Montay of the Oomp Camp rocks bells on "2nd Look" and the aforementioned Lil Jon brings the bass hard on the closer "Wuz Up."

Now momma always said if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all, but for most music critics this would lead to a rather short and lackluster career. I'ma try to split the difference between not saying anything nice and not saying anything at all this way - Crime Mob has not really improved lyrically since their last album. The women still talk about "shaking Laffy Taffy" like that was even still creative in 2007, while the men proclaim "I gotta get mine on the grind" like a hundred other hip-hop artists haven't said the same. Mostly I don't want to hate on Crime Mob but the lack of depth to anything they have to say leaves me very little choice, so buyers beware and know what you're getting into before you end up mostly hating throwing your money down the drain.

Music Vibes: 6.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 3 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 4.5 of 10

Originally posted: May 1, 2007
source: www.RapReviews.com