Southern rapper
Yelawolf closed out his tenure with
Eminem's Shady Records imprint with fifth studio album
Trunk Muzik, Vol. 3, another lengthy chapter of his backwoods-flavored take on hyped-up mainstream rap. The album is front-loaded with its first two singles, "TM3" and "Catfish Billy 2," robust examples of
Yelawolf's diverse flows which range from
Eminem-indebted multisyllabic chops to decidedly Southern rap-informed delivery. Along with these unrelenting bangers,
Yelawolf also explores more sensitive material on the melancholy and confessional "Drugs" and the narrative "Addiction." The album runs almost an hour long and sees the rapper dabble with incorporating rock elements into tracks like "Special Kind of Bad" and "Trailer Park Hollywood." Big-budget production gives every track a mainstream gloss, regardless of
Yelawolf's meandering stylistic impulses. ~ Fred Thomas