DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz: The Album Vol. 2 CD

Personnel: Julio Miranda (guitar).
Audio Mixer: Leslie Brathwaite.
Recording information: AMG; Embassy Studios, Atlanta, GA.
Photographer: Zach Wolfe.
The infamous Gangsta Grillz mixtape series brings it legit once again with THE ALBUM VOL. 2. The set from ATL-based DJ Drama plays like a collection of hit singles more than a typical mixtape, and features the absolute biggest names in the game circa the late-'00s--including The-Dream, Akon, T.I., Flo-Rida, and canonized O.G.s such as Nas, Snoop Dogg, Scarface, and Trick Daddy. As mixtapes become more and more the preferred medium for releasing hip-hop, DJ Drama stands at the fore of making them a recognized mainstream art form in their own right. THE ALBUM VOL. 2 being a case in point.
While the original was the high-profile hip-hop DJ album done right, Gangsta Grillz: The Album, Vol. 2 is the high-profile hip-hop DJ album done as expected with all the inconsistency and empty glitz one would anticipate. Placing in the win column is the opening Atlanta anthem led by T.I. plus the aptly titled "Ridiculous," which finds Gucci Mane and crew succeeding at the Mike Jones/Paul Wall style of infectious party songs. Gucci also owns "Smoke," thanks to an amazing freestyle-like run at the mouth, and even if hip-hop's 2009 love of all things nautical makes you cringe, "Yacht Music" is the easygoing chillout number it aims to be, serving its leisure purpose splendidly. While "Tipper Love" with the-Dream should be on the list of highlights, it is worth noting that this is the album's second ode to a stripper, supporting the feeling that the DJ built the album polished track by polished track and without his eye on the full picture. Push "shuffle" and this everyday collection will sort just as well, which is odd considering that Drama made his name selecting and sequencing some of the hottest, most in demand mixtapes to ever hit the streets. ~ David JeffriesXXL (Magazine) (p.107) - "The disc's most socially relevant track, 'We Must Be Heard,' features Ludacris, Willie the Kid and Busta Rhymes rhyming about the current economic woes, making the song one of the album's brighter spots."