By Matthew Scotto
St. Louis born rapper Nelly just released his long awaited fifth studio album, “Brass Knuckles.” The first single off the album, “Party People,” features hip-hop songstress Fergie. The track is appropriately titled because it definitely sounds like a party anthem. Although the single only reached #13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 list, the song is actually pretty good. With fierce vocals from Fergie and the aggressiveness of a classic Nelly track, it serves as a decent first single.
Unfortunately, “Brass Knuckles” starts off with a dud. The first song, “U Ain’t Him,” is a perfect example of how not to record a hip-hop track. The song isn’t very catchy and serves up an unoriginal “snap your fingers” beat, which is beginning to get old. Pop culture knows Nelly as a hip-hop artist who fills his albums with great songs consisting of insanely catchy choruses. “U Ain’t Him,” however, is a serious misstep.
Another surprising but apparent misstep is “Long Night,” which features R&B star Usher. There was a time when featuring Usher on a song, guarenteed it was going to be great. “Long Night” has no definitive beat and both Usher and Nelly’s vocals seem all over the place.
Things pick up a little bit (thankfully) when Nelly goes back to his roots on “Lie,” featuring the St. Lunatics. Even with a vulgar chorus, the lyrics are good enough to make the song one of the album’s highlights. This track is reminiscent of rapper Cam’ron’s 2002 hit, “Hey Ma.”
The very slight upward streak continues with “Body on Me,” which features Ashanti and Akon. The song is a decent mid-tempo track but in some ways leaves little to be desired. With artists that are well-known like Ashanti and Akon, who knows what the trio could have come up with. Nonetheless, the light and breezy track isn’t a horrible one.
After giving it a couple of spins, “One & Only” has the most potential to be a hit than any other track on the album. Although Nelly’s attempt at singing is a little laughable, he manages to create something that is both simple and catchy.
Overall, “Brass Knuckles” is by no means a chart-topping album. It is average at best, and makes listeners miss the old Nelly.
(justentertainment.files.wordpress.com)
(nelly.net)