Young Buck

Straight Outta Cashville

Tennessee Titan

Review Score:

(8/10)
When I first heard Young Buck rap, I had no idea that it was even him at the time. Juvenile had made a mixtape entitled "600 Degreez" where the CD contained Juvenile and his crew UTP with a few guest appearances. 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Noreaga, and Lil Flip were all featured on different songs. 2 of the songs which featured G Unit were "A Lil Bit Of Everything" and "NY To New Orleans". Once Tony Yayo was apprehended because of his legal troubles, all of a sudden Young Buck was reppin' G Unit with 50 and Lloyd Banks.

Young Buck played a song for Lloyd Banks that 50 liked and the song ended up on "Get Rich Or Die Trying". That song was "Blood Hound". Although I wasn't too fond of Young Buck because he wasn't on earlier mixed CDs that 50 Cent and G Unit created, obviously if 50 is allowing him to join G Unit, Young Buck had to have some skills.

I didn't really pay too much attention to Young Buck until I heard the song "Footprints" from the "Beg For Mercy" CD. That song was a tight one and it displayed that Young Buck could carry a track all by himself. Throughout the CD, Buck proved he could hang with a on point Lloyd Banks and a even too relaxed at times, 50.

The first single from "Straight Outta Cashville" is the Needlz produced "Let Me In". The track was released not too long after LLoyd Banks released "On Fire", which to me was a good move because by bringing out both tracks at the same time, both rappers actually proved that they could hold their own weight and weren't just riding off the coattails of 50's success. "Let Me In" is definitely a club banger and the track proved to just want people to want Buck's debut CD even more. I was already going to buy the CD, but one of my friends downloaded two additional tracks, "Welcome To The South" with David Banner and Lil Flip and "Stomp" featuring TI and Ludacris.

"Welcome To The South" proved that Buck could hang with two of the Leaders Of The New South, David Banner and Lil Flip. The Red Spyda beat didn't hurt things at all either. Even after listening to this whole CD, this track is still my favorite. "Stomp" has Young Buck and TI trying to hang with Ludacris and this time around Ludacris won the war, but he did get an advantage because he was able to hear TI's verse before he wrote his own. TI must have been offended because he said that he wouldn't be included on the track if Ludacris didn't change his verse. That's the reason why Game is featured on the CD and not TI.

"Straight Outta Cashville" gets off to a good start as Young Buck marches to 50's cadence on "I'm A Soldier". Young Buck has stepped up his game lyrically since I first heard his earlier lyrics. What surprised me even more on this track is that the song is produced by Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are known for working with exclusively Neo Soul Artists like Jill Scott and Floetry. "Look At Me Now" has Young Buck making a reflection of events that has happened in his life. D12's own Mr. Porter produces the track and if it wasn't for his horrendous singing on the chorus the song would probably be in My Top 5 for best songs on the CD. Young Buck is at his best when he sticks to his street formula. "Prices On My Head" featuring Lloyd Banks and D-Tay is definitely one of my favorite tracks as Buck sends fierce messages throughout this song. "Some say I'm crazy for signing with 50 Cent", "Them same .... wouldn't offer to give me ....". Tracks like these show that Buck has versatility and doesn't just stick to one formula for every song. "Bonafide Hustler" features a cocky 50 Cent and Tony Yayo on the track. This song is another one of my favorites as the rappers blend well together on the tight beat by Diverse & Klasic. Although, the track does sound like something that should have been on "Get Rich Or Die Trying". Needlz pulls the best production move on "Straight Outta Cashville" with "Bang Bang" by using the sample with the same name that was made popular by Kill Bill Volume 1. You can tell that Buck has been hanging with Banks and 50 by the way he is talking "junk" throughout the track. Midi Mafia, who produced 50's "21 Questions", also show up on "Thou Shall" as they display that they have other nice tracks in their stable as well.
They also show that they can use a sample just as good as Needlz did on "Bang, Bang". "Black Gloves" has Buck sending a message to anyone that is trying to hold him down.

Overall, Young Buck has proved to me that he can hold a CD down on his own. When I first saw and heard Young Buck, I have to say that I didn't think he was capable of that. The only negative things that I can say about "Straight Outta Cashville" are that 1) "Shorty Wanna Ride" could have been left off of the CD. It sounds as if Young Buck used the song just so he could say that he had a Lil Jon produced track on his CD. 2) Young Buck definitely reps Tennessee or Tenn-A-Key as he calls it. So if that's the case then how come he didn't have a track featuring 8Ball & MJG on his CD. Since I have been listening to rap music nobody represents Tennessee like 8Ball & MJG and Three 6 Mafia. Atleast Three 6 Mafia did produce "Taking Hits" with D-Tay but 8Ball & MJG is nowhere to be found on this CD. Lastly, although it is clear that Young Buck is a Down South rapper, Young Buck doesn't have a Down South album, his CD sounds like more of an East Coast CD.

However, even with all these things said, Young Buck has a nice CD on his hands in "Straight Outta Cashville". He shows his versatility and displays that he can carry his own weight and can provide quality performances when he has guest appearances on his songs. If you are a fan of G Unit, 50 Cent's "Get Rich Or Die Trying or Lloyd Banks' "The Hunger For More", then you need to add "Straight Outta Cashville" to your collection.

James' Top 5

1) Welcome To The South w/David Banner & Lil Flip
2) Bonafide Hustler w/50 Cent & Tony Yayo
3) Bang Bang
4) Stomp w/Game & Ludacris (The original version with TI is better)
5) Prices On My Head w/Lloyd Banks & D-Tay

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