Coming seven years after his
Big Boi-associated effort,
The Charm,
Bubba Sparxxx's 2013 album
Pain Management finds the previously Dirty South rapper going full hick-hop, but there's a tear in his beer and the somebody-done-somebody-wrong-songs overflow. Best of the downtrodden numbers here has to be the closing "Wicked World," where
Dan Rockett joins in for a sad tale of growing old in a time when the honeys run off to DJ
Tiesto shows, and yet, the maturing
Sparxxx searches for something deeper, offering "I scanned the Bible, thumbed through the Quran, I'm not the most righteous man in the land," and then the stunning "My Uncle raped me, that ain't natural Sam," although he's talking about his tax problems and referencing Uncle Sam. His old pal and former label boss
Timbaland is mentioned, and not with spite, but with the same ambivalence thrown at the music industry that has forsaken him, and while
Bubba's not sure why, he rolls the idea around his head throughout the often introspective album. On the other hand, when newfound friends like
Colt Ford and Danny Boone from
Rehab show up,
Bubba is happy to greet these "Country Folks" with hooks and an infectious chorus ("Country fried, Baptized in gravy/Can't wash off what the good Lord made me") while
the Lacs pump up the stripclub track "Hairdresser Hot" for a party number of "Miss New Booty"-sized importance. "Bangin'" is the other
Rockett-fueled highlight, coming on cold like
Bun B on a rock-rap warpath, but as
Bubba continues to wonder why his combination of Southern charm and love of mainstream/major-label rap leaves him lost in the current, big, and rich land of hick-hop, he doesn't offer anything that straddles the two worlds, either. It's an argument without the evidence, as the remaining bangers -- "Getcha a Pull" and "Down Yonder" -- offer hoots, hollers, and Monster Truck-inspired lines like "Chevy sittin' high, lookin' like I'm Grave Digger," and suddenly, running into
Timbaland here would be like running into
Tupac at a tractor supply store. Consider this an exciting and uneven, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"-minded album with some interesting and bittersweet "I'm not sure it's the right thing to do"-styled footnotes. ~ David Jeffries