Grand Hustle recording artist B.O.B. dropped his sophomore album May 1 of this year. With interesting cover art and various genre music artists, “Strange Clouds” is climbing its way up the charts with hits.
B.O.B.’s album had an interesting mix of artists, starting off with the greatest narrator that’s ever walked the planet, Morgan Freeman, on the song “Bombs Away,”The beat of the chorus isn’t necessarily ear catching, but the beat that plays during the verses is pretty catchy. This kind of song will get a football player pumped before their game.
The music gives off a Tyler the Creator’s Odd Future type of feel with a kind of a dark side to the music. Don’t worry, the album doesn’t just have this hardcore rap, dark side to it. There is also a soft side to B.O.B, the kind that we heard in his other hit song “Nothin’ on You” featuring Bruno Mars. On this album, “So Hard to Breathe” shows the versatility that Mr. Bobby Ray has. He can go from street life to love life in an instant.
Country music sweetheart Taylor Swift also makes an appearance on the album with the song “Both of Us.” The sound of guitar strings mixed with rap lyrics brings two genres together and is sure to be a hit. This will bring together listeners from different sides of the track which is always a good thing.
“Strange Clouds” featuring president of Young Money, Lil Wayne, and “So Good” have already made their way to the radios. “Strange Clouds” leans more on the side of hardcore rap and “So Good” is more pop. One listen and you’ll catch yourself singing along and want more.
The heartthrob of the R&B world, Chris Brown, and the Southern king of rap, T.I., are featured on “Arena”, a song that sounds like it would be featured on a sports commercial. If you listen to the lyrics, there’s some sort of inspiration, and at the same time it tells a personal story of B.O.B. growing up.
Anything that has Nicki Minaj on it is sure to grab listeners’ attention. B.O.B. brought the current queen of the charts to the song “Out of My Mind” which is perfect for Ms. Minaj since she has her crazy personalities and antics. This song gives off an “I’m on my way to a party” type of feel. The beat is great hands down, and it’s kind of unusual, just like Nicki.
B.O.B. doesn’t forget about those artists who are not that big in the headlines either. An artist by the name of Lauriana Marie featured on “Chandelier” certainly does “shine like a chandelier.” Her vocals on the chorus and in the background sound angelic and the beat goes along perfect with her voice.
Other artists featured on the album to be on the lookout for are Trey Songz on “Castles”, Playboy Tre on “Just a Sign” and Ryan Tedder on “Never Let You Go.”
The bringing of different artists from various genres and areas of Hollywood goes to show that there is still some creativity in the music world out there. “Strange Clouds” is everything but strange. It’s genius.
Imani Love is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.org