Ace Hood - Ruthless Review
Posted by Patrick Robinson on 07.03.2009
Will Ace Hood's sophomore album showcase the same energy and determination he did on his debut, or will he succumb to the curse?
Ace Hood’s debut album, Gutta benefited in terms of quality from an affiliation with DJ Khaled, as he was able to secure a number of decent beats from The Runners and The Inkredibles. Unfortunately for Ace, glossy production was not able to save his album from being an average affair, suffering from a lack of diversity in terms of subject matter.
Ace himself though is blessed with a very energetic style which made listening to his album tolerable at least. With this second album, Ruthless, Ace Hood is aiming to solidify his position as one of the up and comers from Florida to watch. Can he succeed this time round, or will it be a case of the sophomore curse?
Tracks
1. Get Money Ft. Rick Ross
2. Loco Wit The Cake Ft. Schife
3. Born An O.G. Ft. Ludacris
4. Overtime Ft. Akon & T-Pain
5. Champion Ft. Jazmine Sullivan & Rick Ross
6. Love Somebody Ft. Jeremih
7. Don’t Get Caught Slippin’
8. This Ni*** Here Ft. Birdman & Schife
9. Mine Ft. The-Dream
10. Wifey Material Ft. Lloyd
11. Bout Me Ft. Ball Greezy
12. Zone
13. Make A Toast
Ace’s debut album also benefited from the fact that as an up and coming artist with something to prove, he had that natural hunger we’ve seen so many times in artists that often result in an album that showcases an artist’s determination to succeed. Sadly for us listeners, that hunger and determination appears to have waned on Ace’s second release which is somewhat surprising given he didn’t exactly set the charts on fire with Gutta, selling 24,000 in its first week.
On tracks like “Get Money” and “Loco Wit The Cake” the subject matter is strictly limited to boasting about how much money Ace has. It doesn’t help that rappers are insisting on using the term ‘stupid’ to describe something good with lines like: “Pull up in that stupid whip, 100 for the stupid wrist, stupid this, stupid that…” showing just how ridiculous it sounds. Schife should also stick to producing as while the beat is serviceable; his hook is nothing more than what you’d expect from a Soulja Boy album.
“Born An O.G.” benefits greatly from a powerful Ludacris verse as he switches his flow up throughout his bars and with his naturally loud delivery marks the best part of the song. The beat is another decent one, and it would have been better suited as a Ludacris track featuring Ace Hood. Ace himself begins making outrageous claims: “I was born an O.G., and if you ain’t heard about me, I put 4 or 5 bullets in your head”, which is a shame because his delivery and flow on the track show that he really can rap quite well when he puts his mind to it.
The next four songs though mark the high point of the album. The lead single “Overtime” features a strong beat from The Runners, and Ace uses a sports metaphor for his determination to succeed in the rap game. T-Pain doesn’t really add much to the song, but Akon’s hook is one of the better one’s he’s done in a while. “Champion” is the best song on the album with Jazmine Sullivan’s beautiful vocals on the hook enhancing Ace’s sincerest effort on the album as he talks about wanting to become a big name in the rap game. Jeremih’s smooth voice provides a nice contrast to Ace’s on “Love Somebody” and Ace himself is more focused on this track which, whilst aimed at the ladies isn’t too bad in the end. “Don’t Get Caught Slippin’” is one of only 3 solo tracks on the album, and it’s another standout as Ace rides the beat perfectly and displays that hunger and determination which is largely missing throughout Ruthless.
From here though it’s largely downhill. “This Ni*** Here” is full of pointless commercial flossing again, “Mine” suffers from a beat that doesn’t quite match the mood of the song throughout the verses, as the piano used is too hard for the track. “Bout Me” leaves you with the impression that Ace has even less of an identity than he did before the track and “Zone” contradicts the sentiments expressed earlier on “Love Somebody” with lines like: “Don’t know her name, I just call that bitch “Magic”, she make that work disappear and bring me back chips” exposing Ace’s inherent weaknesses as a rapper from a lyrical standpoint.
The 411: It’s really disappointing follow up to Gutta. Not only did his debut album have a better variety of topics to digest, but the hunger and drive that boosted Ace and gave him energy throughout seems to have faded on Ruthless. There are moments of the Ace Hood of last year, but they are too few to save Ruthless from being a fairly weak follow up album. Not really recommended, but the production is fairly solid so fans of the Florida sound should give it a listen for that at least.
