D-Lou – Tha Takeover / 2006 3R Entertaiment / 19 Tracks / http://www.d-lou.com / Reviewed 27 May 2006

D-Lou does not take any time to start eir “Tha Takeover”. “3R Solideer” is a high-energy track that actually has a good interplay between the backing beat and the flow on the track, and keeps things interesting throughout the entirety of the four-minute track. “Takeover” has another bout with a catchy rhythm, but the dominant flow during the track is not strong to maintain the entirety of the track. It is not that the flow is bad, but rather that it fits the beat weakly.

“Already” is another track that has D-Lou backed by an excellent beat, but the flow seems to peter out at points. In this track, the song looks up when the chorus throws in a few extra vocals. The hook present during this chorus is enough to bring the track back to a middle-ground. A track that is perfectly serviceable is “Mob”. The beat is fairly restrained compared to the rest of the music on the disc, but the flow and hook is something that will crawl under listener’s skin and infect them. The disc goes south again during “Young & Dumb”. The beat is again anemic, while the flow is slow and meandering. The lack of a fire in D-Lou’s voice is what holds this track back the furthest. What happened to the bold braggadocio of tracks like “3R Soldier”? There are not as many skits on this album as there are during a number of rap albums, which means that there are nearly twenty tracks on this disc.

I understand you can be proud of everything that you put out, but that does not mean that all the tracks you do need to be on your disc. Cut about eight of the songs on “Tha Takeover” and the album would be much more impressive. The guest stars chosen for a number of the tracks on the disc are solid; this is not just a rapper trying to get eir friends on the disc, but carefully chosen guests that actually have something to add to the disc. However, major problems are present on this disc that interfere with a listener enjoying D-Lou’s work on this disc. Here’s to hoping that D-Lou cuts down the number of tracks on the disc, gets more interesting beats, and tightens up eir flow. If those things all happen, chances are good that ey can have a successful album.

Top Tracks: Takeover, What It Is

Rating: 3.0/10

[JMcQ]