When I picked up Custom Cars &Cycles, I did not have too high of an expectation and with that mentality I was both a little surprised and a little more disappointed than I thought I’d be. I was surprised that I had gained a new found respect for Ross’s flow and the delivery of his punchlines. However, I have a feeling this was only because of the company that Ross keeps on this album and the horrible Shyte that comes out of their mouth. So let’s go in depth of exactly how bad Ross’s gang “Triple C’s” actually was.
One thing that is hard to argue is missing from this album is some banging production. Even if one of the Boss’s no named rappers (Gunplay, Torch and Young Breed) came in and ruined the song, I constantly had my head bobbing the whole time. The CD starts off with “Custom Cars and Clips,” which is generally more of a production showcase and a word play showcase for Ricky. Beats like these pretty much dominate the whole project with heavy drums and a “G” feel to it which supports Ross very well.
In the song “White Sand,” you get that heavy slow beat with Ross rapping about coke and whatever drug he is still pretending that he sold with a very annoying hook that drags on forever. You get to hear some of the Triple C’s crew and immediately decide whether you can mess with them or you can’t. (I couldn’t). To me, they just sound like any rapper I could grab from the streets and put a nice beat over, they were nothing special to me. That feeling stayed with me for the next couple of songs as I sat there almost bored listening to them.
It isn’t until “Trickin Off” that I feel Triple C’s did a decent job at what they should have been doing the whole album. However, this isn’t because they all of a sudden learned to rap, it’s because they merely started to rap like the guest appearances that were on the tracks. With Gucci Mane (who you cannot avoid hearing if you wanted to try!) appearing on this cut, most of the gang decided that if they rapped like Gucci then the track would sound fine! Even though that wasn’t the case, I must admit it was a hell of a lot better than what they were doing before. They continue that same mind set throughout the next couple of songs and even have a couple good lines in “Erryday” with Jeezy.
“Everyday a n*gga wanna kill me, beefing everyday/ So we creep, that’s everyday, 40 deep that’s everyday, all black T’s and we wear them bit*hes everyday!” – Rick Ross
The wax keeps spinning and my feelings still feel the same way they did in the beginning. It is almost a sigh of relief when I hear Ross come back in to rap, and be the only one able to stay on beat. However, there were a couple tracks that caught my attention like “Gangsta Shyte,” which features The Game (Or just “Game” whatever he wants to be called now). Every time Game gets on a track, I feel that he brings a gangsta feel to any song while incorporating that west coast flow which a lot of us don’t hear much anymore unless you out in Cali. By this point in the CD I’m not sure whether it’s because I am comparing him to his gang or not, but Ross is really starting to win me over. Even if everything he is rapping about is a complete lie, that doesn’t take away how it sounds.
“Teflon fit well in my car door/ I invest in stocks, black Wall Street shell holders, pressing blocks/ Breaking down to ounces amongst all our counselers/ Black Bilderberg is how you announce us.” – Rick Ross
The album continues with a load of special features that I have a feeling that Ross intentionally wanted. Some of these features include Mack-10, Birdman, Bun B, and Yo Gotti. On top of the artists I have already mentioned, this album has a featured artist in every 2 out of 3 songs. I am sure that Ross did this to maintain interest in the album for the listeners in case Triple C couldn’t (Which they didn’t).
I always feel that if you have a lot of features on your album, you feel that you need a lot of different fans to listen or feel incapable of holding 16 tracks on your own. However, for this album because Triple C’s don’t have a huge fan base and it is their first album, I understand why they feel they would need a lot of featured artists.
As the album ends, we get a couple of dope tracks with the help of features like Masspike Miles and Yo Gotti. However, there isn’t really any particular lines that you’ll be thinking about all day or emotional connections you have with the song. Here’s my word of advice: there only two ways I would tell you to buy this album.
1. If you can care less about what rappers are lyrically saying and just like bumpin’ ** beats that will get your head bobbing.
2. If you’re a genuine Rick Ross fan and don’t care who is on a track with him but just care about what Ricky is doing himself.
This album may come off as atrocious the way I am reviewing but it does have some good items. The production is pretty dope as those beats go hard as hell. Also, Ross still proves that he’s not one to take lightly on the mic. Nonetheless, for an album that has supposedly been in the making for years now; it seems that Ross brought in great production and a lot of special guests to almost distract us from mediocre flow you are forced to listen to from his entourage.
Feel free to disagree but I’m just being real.
