Hip-hop has this format called the "street release," something that falls between a mixtape and album in terms of structure, size, and importance. They're often aimed at the hardcore fan, and often offer underground thrills you just can't get from the official-official, so if the strain of rap known as hick-hop has something akin -- like a "backroads release" -- then rapper
Bubba Sparxxx's 2014 effort
Made on McCosh Mill Road is kin, and audiences can react accordingly. With
Rehab member Danny Boone on the assist, the opening title track is a statement of purpose for this shorter, sharper effort, as "I'm talkin' 'bout cold beer, I'm talkin' 'bout a hot country girl/I'm talkin' 'bout John Deere, I'm talkin' 'bout my big cousin Earl" crack the seal on a party-keg worth of country rap. Make that moonshine when the banjos and fiddles power "Prolly Right," sounding as if Andy and the gang down in Mayberry came up with a proto-"Miss New Booty" for
Sparxxx. It's rootin', tootin' fun, as is the comedic rave-up "Good Day" ("My dog eats cow turds, it could always be worse/He could like my turds, end up in the toilet teeth first") and the sunshine-bright, Southern embrace called "Better Be Country" ("I got another one in West Hollywood/I love her tho, she act more Dollywood!"). A proud ballad and a heartfelt number slow it up, but otherwise, the release is the party flipside of his aptly titled 2013 release
Pain Management, driven by that drunken-days-are-here-again bounce and some banjo-twangin', booty-lovin' examples of dumb fun. ~ David Jeffries