E-40-The Ball Street Journal
3
By btaznpride
Bay veteran and self-proclaimed “Ambassador Of The Yay”, E-40 is back with his eleventh solo album. His second with BME and Lil Jon, 40 Water backs his successful My Ghetto Report Card with The Ball Street Journal.
The Ambassador: Same start as his last album, Rick Rock samples Digable Planets Ladybug Mecca and goes into a sparse production of claps and pounding bass hits. 40 states his status in the bay, as the ambassador and lets you know why. The track is a solid start to the album. 3.5/5
I’m On One: Another Rick Rock concoction, rousing alarming synths with bass work well. A sample for the hook is effective, as 40 Water speaks about being on various narcotics while criticizing the haters. 3.5/5
Break Ya Ankles: Lil Jon brings back the crunk synth lines and booming bass that sadly sounds outdated here. While there is definite knock, Shawty Lo sounds horrible and wack, as one has to wonder why 40 got him of all people from the A to do this A-Town/Bay connect. Combining crunk and hyphy, the track sadly falters due to this. 2.5/5
Got Rich Twice: Droop E delivers a funky production here that is what 40 is used to. Turf Talk joins Fonzarelli for a track about gettin rich twice and proving themselves time and time again. A solid bumper right here. 3/5
Pain No More; J.R. Rotem continues to impress, as the west coast vibe is irresistible and will give 40 some appeal to mainstream, as Game and Snoop join in on the collab. A solid west coast number, its nice to see the west collaboratin. 3.5/5
Tell It Like It Is: Relentless loop and busy production matched with 40’s quick spit verses make for a overbusy track. 40 speaks the truth here, but it is sadly a bit overdone. 3/5
Give Her The Keys: T-Pain produced and featured, its 40 trying to appeal to the masses. The hook isn’t bad, while the production is bass heavy but guitar smooth. The hook runs a bit too long, but 40 sounds alright on here. Its a better commercial track than the lead single. 3/5
Hustle: Club banger that has commercial appealing synths, it sounds okay here. R. City deliver a catchy hook that rises to different scales and hold it down. 40’s flow isn’t as good on here however, while Turf Talk fairs a bit better with his raspy vocals. 3/5
Wake It Up: T-Pain’s mentor, Akon shows up to produce and sing the hook for 40 to create another club banger. Sadly Akon’s hook gets tiresome and the autotune affects don’t help, as it sounds whiny and unpolished. 40 does okay, but ultimately the track isn’t nearly as catchy as his previous performance of “U & Dat”. 3/5
40 Water: Lil Jon uses the tired drip effect, mesmerizing synths and bass, while 40 talks about what he does. The hook is repetitive and lyrically he doesn’t show very good flow. Weak track here that also contains bad production. 1.5/5
Poor Man’s Hydraulics: One to bump that is in the same vein as “Tell Me When To Go”, however it isn’t nearly as hyphy and acts a poor man’s version of the hit single. What a coincidence that its titled “Poor Man’s Hydraulics”, as booming bass and claps are the beat along with 40’s amusing sound effects. His whispered flow is a little annoying also. 2/5
The Recipe: Poli Paul hilariously chops a cooking show to show listeners how to make crack. Fellow Atlanta slanger Gucci Mane brings his cocaine talk, while Trill Houstonian Bun B does his thing. A decent track here that has more of a humor appeal than actual knock. 3/5
Hood Boy: Uncredited hook that sounds alright, while 40 talks about the ladies wanting a hood boy. Its merely a filler cut that has robotic production and looming synths. Decent. 2.5/5
Earl: Decent track here that has 40 goin hard and speaking about how he’s been runnin the Yay. The hook is a little bizarre, but the hard hitting piano keys and drums serve the purpose. 3/5
Sliding Down The Pole: Weak track here that has bass knocks but the track is a dull production. 40 spits a bit better here and the collab with Too Short is a nice duet, but the hook falters and the track is ultimately filler. 2.5/5
I Can Sell It: Woozy loop runs throughout as 40 and Cousin Fik deliver humorous lines of metaphors about their selling abilities. While its a funny duet, the beat and their rap patterns get a bit tiresome, but its enjoyable. 3/5
Big Time: Triumphant production, Kevin Cossom’s light croon on the hook and E-40’s reflection of the hood life, he celebrates a bit here. The celebratory vibe is decent and the track is enjoyable. 3/5
Alchoholism: Simplistic and odd sounds in the beat, 40 spits about alcohol and its effects resulting in sometimes good and gettin women, but also bad in being hard to steer. B-Legit guests with a solid verse. 2.5/5
Pray For Me: The reflective track of the album, Bosko’s hook is nicely done and you can get some sentimentality out of it. The sincereness of the hook and E-40’s reflection work well, while Suga-T only adds to the track. Solid ender. 4/5
E-40’s The Ball Street Journal is in the same vein as My Ghetto Report Card, a long album that has some filler and its hit tracks. The problem here is, the hits don’t hit as hard as they did on the last album making the album a slight stepback for 40, but still a decent album. “The Ambassador” features some solid Rick Rock production and has 40 solidifying his position as the ambassador of the yay, while “I’m On One” has alarming synths that are sure to have the bay listeners going dumb. “Pain No More” is a solid West Coast collab, “Hustle” has a great hook but weaker lyricism and the bizarre but funny “The Recipe” is a unique highlight. There are a few missteps in “Break Ya Ankles” with the wack Shawty Lo, “Wake It Up” and “Give Her The Keys” are decent commercial hits but don’t come near the impact of “U & Dat”. “Poor Man’s Hydraulics”, “40 Water” and some others miss and are filler, but the album is one for the bay faithful and some other 40 fans.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
E-40 - The Ball Street Journal
4
By Moviewhiz1
Two years since his last release, "My Ghetto Report Card". E-40 bounces back with his latest album, "The Ball Street Journal". Here is how it did.
The Ambassador 4/5
I'm On One 2.5/5
Break Ya Ankles 3.5/5
Got Rich Twice 4/5
Pain No More 4/5
Tell It Like It Is 3.5/5
Give Her the Keys 3.5/5
Hustle 2.5/5
Wake It Up 4/5
40 Water 3.5/5
Poor Man's Hydraulics 3/5
The Recipe 3.5/5
Earl 3/5
Sliding Down the Pole 4/5
I Can Sell It 4/5
Big Time 3/5
Alcoholism 3/5
Pray for Me 3.5/5
E-40 once again delievers an overall solid album. With this being his twelfth album, and the Bay Area rapper has still got it. Though this album does have a few weaker moments, song like "I'm On One" and "Hustle" were mostly to blame. The lyrics werem't good enough, and production was lacking. Nonetheless, the first single "Wake It Up" is a step up from E's work, making that song an enjoyable hit. Lyrically, this album is decent. Lots of lyrics in a few songs are pretty worthwhile, while others need more time spent on that which is why they are week. Guests stars on this album, depending on who they are. For the most part they gave a fair decent job, Shawty Lo wasn't good on "Break Ya Ankles", but Akon was on "Wake It Up" which is why it is very mixed. It is very mixed also for production, but for the most part production was nice and official for E-40. Overall, "The Ball Street Journal" is a pretty good album for the twelfth time around. E-40 should have a good amount of popularity for this album while it stands has under the title of decent rap albums of 2008.
