Poppa C Records/Def Jam Records

Fortunately, it’s been seven years since Mel-low’s first release, First Day of School. But, we all know good things do come to an end. Mel-low comes back with his sophomore project, It’s a B.G. Thang (Life Of A Youngster).

The first single off the CD, B.G. Thang, glamorizes the elements of gangsta life:Moet, Hennessey, women, weed and gats. This track has the sound of the same old loops used by lame studio gangstas with deep bass grooves. The corny chorus laced over the kinetic bass goes, From the west to the east/it’s all about funk/so grab a 40 in the store/and roll a fat blunt. L.V., of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise, does the background vocals and detracts from the effort with his commercialized choir voice. The production is done by Prodeje of South Central Cartel for way-low sounding production.

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Mel-low’s monotone delivery of his lyrics reflect the dreams of petty hustlers throughout the CD. There is no complexity to his philosophy, and his lyrics are stagnated on topics that poison the hip-hop culture such as Money, Houses and Clothes.

The only bright spot on the CD is when Redman, a member of Def Squad, represents his lyrical finesse for a whole 15 seconds on Blaze It Up. This song also has a lame hook, Roll it up/blaze it up/ pass it around/when you start chokin’/put the shit down.

On every song, Mel-low uses gimmicks to hook the listener. On The Day I Die, it gets worse, Fuck the world is the attitude I took/now I’m hooked on the life of a crook/they say what goes around comes around again/but was I to know this was the day mine would end.

The tracks on the CD are repetitious and influenced by funk from P-Funk, Zapp and the Ohio Players.

Mel-low’s, It’s a B.G. Thang, is definitely a Baby Gangster effort. This CD is a weak attempt at releasing quality material for his premiere album In the infamous words of Big Daddy Kane, How’d You Get A Record Deal?