Posted on: Friday, August 11, 2006
Rick Ross' debut rap album sails into port
USA Today
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Miami rapper Rick Ross releases his debut CD "Port of Miami," featuring a remix of the hit song "Hustlin'." Here, he's in New York.
JIM COOPER | Associated Press
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"Port of Miami" by Rick Ross: Ross' ubiquitous anthem, "Hustlin'," raised anticipation for the Miami rapper's debut. He taps into the pulse of the streets with his hard-core tales of a drug dealer's life on the grind. With the help of muscular production from the likes of Jazze Pha and Cool & Dre and cameos from Akon ("Cross That Line") and Lyfe Jennings ("It's My Time"), Ross colorfully chronicles his lifestyle with swaggering menace. Def Jam president Jay-Z and labelmate Young Jeezy raise the ante on the "Hustlin' " remix.
Still, this is an overall case of style over substance, with Ross' charismatic flows over dope beats standing in for originality. While he paints a vivid portrait of the grimy side of Miami, the cocaine trade is exhaustively traveled thematic territory.
— Steve Jones
"Bird on a Wire" Toby Lightman: Lightman's honey-and-whiskey vocals and blues-based sensibility may evoke a younger Joan Osborne, but the tunes on this follow-up to 2004's "Little Things" offer a more pronounced R&B flavor.
Veteran pop producers Bill Bottrell and Patrick Leonard burnish Lightman's rootsy songs with a light, sure hand, letting her breezy carnality and yearning shine through the funk-kissed fervency of "Don't Let Me," the soulful dreaminess of "Slipping" and the inspirational bolero "One Sure Thing."
— Elysa Gardner
"Stranger Things" by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians: A quick recap: Brickell and company burst into view with quirky hit "What I Am," then vanished after 1990's "Ghost of a Dog." Brickell had solo albums and babies (as Mrs. Paul Simon) during the hiatus before re-connecting with her Austin-based pals in 2001.
Momentum quickened in 2005 with the arrival of producer/engineer Bryce Goggin, who extracts pleasant but unremarkable results on this agreeable comeback. Brickell's cheery vocals and Kenny Withrow's stringent guitar lines enliven funk-kissed vignettes and character studies.
"Stranger Things" has a host of relaxed compositions that are smart, spunky but not creatively strange enough to stand out in the crowded field of serviceable pop tunes.
— Edna Gundersen
