Shop Boyz Album: “Rockstar Mentality [Edited]”

Description :

Shop Boyz: Brian 'Bingo' Ward, Rasheed 'Sheed' Hightower, Richard 'Fat' Stephens, Demetrius 'Meany' Hardin. <p>Formed in 2004, the Atlanta-based trio known as Shop Boyz turned heads with their debut single, "Party Like a Rock Star," an irreverent anthem set to a slow crescendo of electric guitars. Continuing in the same vein, Meany, Fat, and Sheed set themselves aside from much of the ATL scene, displaying a tongue-in-cheek heavy-metal fetish on their debut album, ROCKSTAR MENTALITY. <p>Still, it's not all rap-core on this one--many of the album's cuts are standard Dirty South fare. Mimicking Young Jeezy with a bevy of guttural "yeeeaaahhhh"s littering their background vocals along with their own signature chants of "t-t-totally dude," the group is out to stymie the listening public's expectations. Featuring production from Dirty South mainstays like David Banner, ROCKSTAR MENTALITY is one of the more unusual albums to come out of the South.

Shop Boyz' single "Party Like a Rockstar" was a hit all across the board on urban radio last year. Still, it was another case of where an artist scores a big hit yet nobody picks up the album. I wondered why, but then I listened to Rockstar Mentality and I said, "Oh."

If the album title doesn't spell it out for you, Shop Boyz are trying to reach the levels of rock star popularity, which probably accounts for why many of the songs are electric-guitar-driven. But when they try ACOUSTIC guitar backdrops, it doesn't work right because it makes the songs sound TOO countrified, and that much country plus rap doesn't mix (ask Cowboy Troy). This is evidenced by selections like "My Car" and "Rollin'", which, by the way, are also predictable songs about automobiles.

That aside, the trio really don't have much to say. Dull tracks are in abundance, like "Baby Girl" and "Showin' Me Love". "Sumthin' to Talk `Bout" is anything but, and the title track suffers from an uninteresting, repetitive chorus. Speaking of uncreative choruses, the David Banner-produced "They Like Me" (the obligatory blingin' song) falls into that category: "I keep the girls choosin'/Turn `em out and have `em dykin'/They never tell me naw/(Why?) `Cause they like me".

But the most annoying thing about Shop Boyz is their catchphrase. If you're a twenty-something black guy, you do not -- repeat - DO NOT say "Totally Dude"! I'm sorry, but the only people that say that are fifteen-year-old white guys who shop at PacSun. In short, Rockstar Mentality isn't worth picking up because their minds ain't right, so leave it in the shop, boys.

Anthony Rupert