Although Razer is a California-based rapper (affiliated with the underground hip-hop collective Califa Thugz), his first solo album starts with a snippet that recalls the Houston-based "chopped and screwed" sound, featuring deliberately slowed-down voices and beats. However, when Razer himself swings into the album's first track, "Lovin' It," he shows off the fastest rhyming this side of Twista. Luckily, he doesn't stick to the head-spinning velocity throughout Born 2 Die; in fact, Razer has an impressive ability to adapt his style to the song's needs, rather than having one distinguishing feature (Twista's speed, Eminem's nasal whine) that he has to structure all of his raps around. As a result, Born 2 Die is musically fairly varied while staying comfortably within the standards of West Coast gangsta rap. While he's probably not a superstar in the making, songs like the spooky, menacing "So Cold" showcase a better-than-average first-timer.
© Stewart Mason /TiVo