Label: Cash Money/Universal Records
In the initial deluge of major label Cash Money releases that followed the New Orleans label's big ticket distribution deal with Universal, B.G. stayed in the middle of the pack. He didn't have a blockbuster album like Juvenile's 400 Degreez, and he didn't establish an ear for platinum hooks like Lil Wayne. With a relaxed, conversational flow and an eye for detail, B.G. had the most traditional lyrical rapping style of anyone in the Hot Boyz. He may be the last of five rappers to spit on his biggest hit, "Bling Bling," a song best remembered for Weezy's dictionary-altering hook, but Chopper City in the Ghetto is B.G. at his finest.
Other Cash Money Millionaires appear on half of the album's 16 tracks, but on solo cuts like "Hard Times" and "Uptown My Home" the former Baby Gangsta holds court with a darker, more grounded variation on the label's celebratory signature sound. As with any Mannie Fresh-era Cash Money album, the super producer takes center stage as often as any MC. It's one of his most varied collections of beats, already drifting far from mere Trigger Man variations. "With Da B.G." has clavinet bass and watery guitar lines, "Niggaz In Trouble" has bombastic orchestra hits and pew pew laser gun synths, and "Cash Money Is an Army" creeps along more menacingly than any track in the producer's discography. —Al Shipley
