Da U Boys:Tha Shutdown

 

Rap trio Da U Boys have delivered what could very well be the soundtrack to the street life in New Orleans, Louisiana and ghettos and hoods across the nation with Tha Shutdown, released on their own Rue Rois Music. Never ones to sugarcoat anything, they keep it raw to make sure you fully understand where the are coming from.

From the question asked at the beginning of the album (What It Take), to the end (Tha Truth), the message here remains the same. Come up, put your people on, and destroy all who come in the way of that. You either respect it or check it or shut the fuck up about it.

The features definitely stand out, as they recruit legends Fiend (Stop Our Shine) and Mia X (who murders Street Shit in 12 bars!!!) as well as future star Corner Boy P (Game Spittin) and the King Of Twitter Strait Jigg (Body Niggaz) to go on this ride with them as they take the listener on a trip through the mindset of disenfranchised young black men in the streets of New Orleans.

The stories are told in a matter-of-fact manner, without all the pretentiousness that most “trap rap” is packaged and sold. No Rich Drug Kingpin-Big Timer Supreme stories here, just straight forward rhymes of people still in the struggle yet determined, by hook or by crook, to do what needs to be done to make sure their people are fed.

That being said, the album is not perfect, as newcomer Tyga McCoy’s hook in “Tell Me” seems a bit off-key, and Snoop’s solo record (JC), while definitely a heartfelt change of pace as he sends up praise to the lord Jesus Christ, seems out of place among the unfiltered rawness in this collection.

Overall the album is a solid debut, with potential anthems (Kill Me, Money Power Respect, Not Us, What It Is) and thought provoking songs (Trapped) that should keep the streets fed through the winter. They definitely raised the bar as to what real street music should sound like.