Juicy J and Pi’erre Bourne could also be practically 20 years aside in age, however they’ve much more in widespread than you would possibly suppose. They’re each rapper-producers with distinctive sounds who use simple metaphors and flex bars to create atmospheric funhouses of sound. And despite the fact that Bourne was one-and-a-half years previous when Juicy’s group Three 6 Mafia launched their influential 1995 debut Mystic Stylez, each males are trailblazers who molded their respective eras of rap in their very own photographs—Juicy together with his menacing Memphis swing, Pi’erre together with his candy-colored tackle modern entice music.
Sadly, their debut collaborative venture House Age Pimpin proves that Juicy and Pi’erre—who raps on each music—are a clumsy match. Lyrically, they’re on the similar eye stage—smoking copious quantities of weed, lounging with ladies all around the world, stiff-arming individuals making an attempt to mess with their cash. Nevertheless it’s onerous to disregard that the album’s stylistic trappings closely cater to Juicy’s sound over Pi’erre’s. Ambiance is a giant ingredient in each males’s music, and whereas Juicy has slotted himself into Pi’erre’s hard-hitting dreamscapes neatly earlier than, Pi’erre struggles to face out over the gothic bounce that dominates this album.
Juicy’s been enjoying with hi-hats, claps, bass drum, ominous samples, and MIDI devices for many years, and right here they seem on practically each monitor. Songs like lead single “This Fronto” and “Uhh Huh” are expansive and gritty, with bass deep sufficient to energy blast the grime off a grimy automotive. Juicy is in his consolation zone—which isn’t stunning, contemplating he’s the album’s government producer—and he floats tales of gun-running and foolish intercourse puns (“She lady so earlier than she eat this dick, she gon’ say grace”) throughout these beats on autopilot.
Alternatively, Pi’erre’s ethereal melodies and pun-heavy bars don’t match over this type of manufacturing. Take “Smokin’ Out,” which opens with pitched-down Juicy vocals barreling by means of synths and a punishing low-end. Pi’erre’s croons are rapidly swallowed by the drums, crumpling like a used sweet bar wrapper. The melodies he chooses typically match the the beat precisely (“Uhh Huh”) or, like on “Who Get Excessive,” they try to harmonize and meander aimlessly by means of verses. There’s a handful of moments the place his voice assimilates to the monitor, together with his verses on “BBL” and nearer “Unsolved Thriller” however for essentially the most half, his presence is weird and distracting. Generally, it even feels like his vocals have been ripped from a special venture solely and retrofitted onto leftovers from Juicy’s The Hustle Continues.
That is particularly unusual since Pi’erre and Juicy share manufacturing credit on each music. It’s a disgrace that some of the influential producers of this era has little presence behind the boards right here, as a result of the zany pop of Pi’erre’s solo and manufacturing work is nonexistent on Pimpin. Whether or not this was by design or coincidence is irrelevant. Juicy J and Pi’erre Bourne clearly had a good time making this venture, however House Age Pimpin falls in need of the 8Ball & MJG music for which it’s named. Not like that duo, Juicy and Pi’erre’s chemistry is off at a base stage. They’re left dangling within the wind like mismatched automotive cube, two colourful halves which are a part of a special set.
