Lil' Jon Put Yo Hood Up CD

Feat.Ludacris,Too Short,8 Ball &Mjg,Three 6 Mafia,Gangsta Boo

Personnel: Lil Jon, The Eastside Boyz, Ludacris, Too Short, Eightball, MJG, Triple 6 Mafia, Bo Hagon, Quint Black And The Nation Riders, The Young Bloods, Oobie, Sky, Jazze Pha, Kilo Ali, M.O.P., Khujo, Gangsta Boo, Big Kap, Chyna White (rap vocals); Craig Love (guitar); L-Roc (keyboards); Nathan "Nate Dog" Smith (background vocals).
Producers: Lil Jon, Danny D, DJ Smurf, Paul Lewis.
Personnel: Big Sam (vocals); Danny D (chant); Craig Love (guitar); L-Roc (keyboards); 6 Shot (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Don "DJ Snake" Brown; Alex Lowe; Billy Hume.
Recording information: Blue Basement, Atlanta, GA; BME Studios; Dangerous Music, Atlanta, GA; PatchWerk Recording Studios, Atlanta, GA; Pyramid Studios, New York, NY; Soundlab, Atlanta, GA; Southern Living, Atlanta, GA; Streetlight Studios, New York, NY; Streetlight, New York, NY; The Cutting Room, New York, NY; The Zone, Atlanta, GA; Zone, Atlanta, GA.
Photographer: Anders Jones.
Put Yo Hood Up, Lil Jon's first album for TVT, is a vital step forward from his previous couple underground albums. The producer/rapper's bass-heavy productions remain the highlight, as always, though he now has a long and varied list of guest rappers to accompany the beats, including such household names as Too Short and Ludacris, who are teamed up on "Bia', Bia'." Put Yo Hood Up also features guest features by Eightball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, M.O.P., and Jazze Pha, among other, lesser-known guests. The de-emphasis of the East Side Boyz in favor of these guests works in favor of Lil Jon. Not only do the bigger-name guests serve as commercial draw, but the varied roster helps better showcase the productions, which presumably are fit with stylistically suitable rappers. Plus, the end result is an album that resembles a street-level mixtape rather than a traditional artist-oriented album -- a plus in this case, since the East Side Boyz can't carry an album this long by themselves. Besides "Bia', Bia'," which is the standout here, Put Yo Hood Up includes such highlights as "I Like Dem Girlz," "Who U Wit," and the title track. Note that some of these songs (e.g., "Who U Wit") were previously released on Lil Jon's underground albums, namely Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album (1997) and We Still Crunk (2000). ~ Jason Birchmeier
Poster boys for the Dirty South, Atlanta GA's Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz follow up 2000's WE STILL CRUNK with a set of fearsome rhymes, thick-as-molasses beats, and enough macho posturing for a whole season of WWF tournaments. Guests Three 6 Mafia, Chyna Whyte, and Ludacris are just the icing on the cake in this testosterone-fueled collection that's as infectious as it is powerful.
When Lil Jon says he's gonna bring the pain, you'd better believe it. But "Where Dem Girlz At" shows the Boyz's softer side, though it's pretty well-hidden ("you wear them three-inch heels/you can cook a good meal"). And in case you've missed their point, they come back with "I Like Dem Girlz" and "Nasty Girl," which though they're not exactly Marvin Gaye-seductive, at least provide a counterpoint to the instigating, club-oriented "Bia' Bia'," also the album's first single.