Sex, money and blingin' rims on drop-tops. What is it going to take to get rap and hip-hop artists to move on to another subject? At this point, many would be willing to compromise with simply less degrading subject matter.
DJ Kayslay's second album, "The Streetsweeper, Volume 2: The Pain from the Game" is just as corny as its title implies. The CD is filled with colorations from just about every rap and hip-hop artist that can be thought of - from the "hot now" G-Unit, 50 Cent, and Twista, to the "not now" Three 6 Mafia, Ghostface and Memphis Bleek - but is lacking the beats, rhymes and hooks needed to make a great mix tape.
The songs on the CD, while performed by famous rap artists, are the kind that artists might write for a CD, but never plan to release as singles; the songs that just take up track numbers, the ones that everyone skips.
The CD is a difficult one to listen to in its entirety. In the first 30 seconds of the album, women are called every degrading name and told to do every degrading action imaginable. It doesn't stop.
DJ Kayslay's intro is so annoying that a conscious effort must be made in order to keep from pressing the "next track" button, though it's guaranteed that it will be in heavy use.
DJ Kayslay has been in the rap game for quite a long time, and his first mix tape was a huge success. This album will undoubtedly receive similar sales, largely based on the fact that many of the same artists are featured in this album, which brings up yet another point: Can't DJ Kayslay find any new people?
Overall, "Pain from the Game" does not live up to the standards of a mix tape. Mix tapes are meant to be played all the way through, to give the effect that it's in a club.
This club is dead.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
