Music Review: B.O.B - Underground Luxury

B.O.B has seen what this industry has to offer. From the mixtape circuit to the major label backing and worldwide acclaim, Bobby Ray has made his mark in hip hop. Yet, he hasn’t become as big as he may want to be. Nor is he making the money he may desire. Oh, he is getting paid. However, there is always that desire for more. And that desire for more has led to the conception of his new album, Underground Luxury.

Let me get this out the way once and for all: this is a good album filled with a multitude of cuts serving different purposes. However, it isn’t as great as it could be. More on that later.

The motivation for his project starts right off the bat with “All I Want”, the song expressing all the material and carnal desires that he has. From there, we get into similar tracks like “Headband” and “Ready”. A lot of this album will have a sound that makes itself available for club and radio spins. Any listener can see that from the inclusion “We Still In This Bitch”. Even on slower tempo tracks like “Back Me Up”, the overall flow of the album is about “getting to the money and success”.

And to be honest, I can’t fault him for that.

Even throughout the money chasing, paper stacking, cheeba smoking, and booty slapping, there are those tracks that are based on his inner thoughts and observances. “One Day” reflects over his trial and tribulations that allowed him to focus on his goals and aspirations. “Nobody Told Me” allows Bobby Ray to go over the lessons that he learned from his musical pursuits. Even with “Forever”, he realized the mortality and his adversaries over some bombastic production. Let it be known that B.O.B does take time to recognize where he been and how he got there.

The drawback that many listeners will have for this album is that, through it all, many want B.O.B to “go in more”. Before he became a signed artist, B.O.B would demonstrate lyrical gymnastics and fluid melodies over tracks. The melodies are intact on this album. However, many will say that his lyrical dynamics have taken a backseat. In short, people will want to complain that he isn’t lyrically smashing the tracks like he used to.

At the end of the day, Underground Luxury is highly listenable and actually a good album. However, he still has a chance to make that “great” album. The one thing he can do is start going harder on the tracks lyrically. It is always the lyrical content over dope production that separates the top tier from the rest. Regardless, Underground Luxury will impress those that want to ride around with banging beats and lyrics about getting the luxury while in the underground.