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Devin - To Tha X-Treme
- The term "Keeping It Real" has been played, replayed, overplayed and played to death. In fact, using the term "Keeping It Real" makes you look as fake as a pair of Burberry Nikes. Do these cats that hide behind that slogan really think we believe all of the murder, death, drugs, sex sex and more sex tales they spin? It’s enough to make you turn off the radio (something I did years ago). Enter Devin, a man so real, he doesn’t even have to say that he is. He doesn’t have to, because the stories he tells are always so relatable; either you’ve experienced them yourself or you know someone who has.
Devin likes three things--Weed, Women, and Weed. In that order. Sometimes the themes can be a bit repetitive, but the music and his personality keeps you listening. The slow-rolling title track explains what "To Tha X-Treme" means to him, and the easy-going "Cooter Brown" shows the human side of Devin: that he’s not afraid to express his fears and worries. Other standout cuts include the hypnotic "Don’t Go", which talks about his futile attempts to bed a woman, the humorous "What" that has him dealing with infidelitites (and ultimately paying the price) and the upbeat "Freak". However, the standout track on here is "Too Cute", which shows off Devin's singing ability. The track sounds better than half the R&B that’s on the radio, and the playful lyrics speak of a man who has wanted to get to know a certain female for a while now, but he never spoke to her, because he didn’t think he wasn’t good enough for her. Now how many times have we been in that same situation? That’s what I mean about Devin, he takes everyday situations that we’ve all been in, and makes them entertaining.
With all of the good things to say about "To Tha X-Treme", there are a few missteps. "Go Fight Some Other Crime", a song about police harassment, comes off boring. "Briar Patch" is just plain silly, and "Anythang" sounds like an unreleased track from an old Bone Thugs N' Harmony album.
All in all, "To Tha X-Treme" is a welcome change from the "rap" on the radio. In this day and age of "murdermurdermurder,killkillkill", it’s really refreshing to hear someone with live-and-let-live rhymes.
Reviewer: Ray Anderson
new
Reviewer's Rating: 7.5
Reader's Rating: 10.00
Reader's Votes: 5
Added: 29-Sep-2004
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