Album Review: Jacki-O - Lil Red Riding Hood

This 2009 album starts off with a skit of Jacki-O talking to someone of 'Bullshit Records' (I think it's actually her own voice, sped up). At first I thought it was really dumb and annoying, until it turned into a Khia diss (Khia is a female rapper who doesn't really get along with other female rappers, she has beef with Jacki-O and Trina). "That's one of our favorite artists! '06, '07, '08, all she did was push out bullshit! Sure, she's one of our favorite artists! I mean, she didn't make us a dime of money, but she kept pushing that bullshit, and here at bullshit records, all we do is push out bullshit!" I'm not gonna say I dislike Khia, because her music is one of my guilty pleasures, but this diss is funny.

First of all, I'd like to say I really hate the song Baby Mama, it sounds annoying and the subject isn't very interesting either. So I don't understand why Jacki used it as a single and I certainly don't understand why it's one of her favorites. Songs like Change Gone Come (which you may already know from The Free Agent Mixtape), on which she sounds like she's about to start crying, and If I Had A Son, which in my opinion has 2Pac written all over it, are so much better.

My Block is a nice song, it sounds laid-back although the things she says about her neighborhood don't paint a very pretty picture. Picture Perfect and Fuk Wit Me are catchy 'gangsta' songs. Both Situations and I Got Yo Boyfriend are about Jacki stealing someone else's man. Situations sounds nice, I Got Yo Boyfriend is a song you'll probably skip after you've heard it twice.

Fuck N***a is a fun track. It starts off with Jacki talking to her man, who treats her like a piece of trash, and she's all like "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" and he forces her to bark like a dog, say cock-a-doodle do and miauw like a cat. Then she raises her voice and starts cursing him out for like two minutes, on a beat. But she does it after he hung up the phone, so we don't get to hear his reaction.

Take Me Higher and Turning Headz are the last two songs on the album, and they're okay, but no masterpieces.

Overall, I like this album and I would definitely recommend it, but I must warn you: I think it's not nearly as good as her first album, Poe Little Rich Girl, so don't expect too much of it!

Mixtape Review - Jacki-O as Griselda Blanco - La Madrina

Jacki-O used to be one of my favorite female rappers. Her first CD, Poe Little Rich Girl, blew me away and I still play it frequently. Then she became a mixtape rapper, and yes she released another album (Lil Red Riding Hood, which I will review next) but she started out so promising and I don't feel like she became what I expected.

On this mixtape, Jacki has taken on the role of Miami female drug lord Griselda Blanco. As you can expect, that means raw street spittin'. You can hear this in songs such as Strapped Up and Die Tonight. Die Tonight is probably my favorite, it should have been on the first half of the CD!

But, this mixtape is more than just gangsta music. She also has a few hip-pop/easy-to-listen-to songs, like Come Wit Me (I really like this one!), the thug-love anthem Love My Gangsta and Get Away (it's not original, but hey, what hip-hop song IS nowadays?).

Jacki-O had her breakthrough with a tribute to her pussy, known as Nookie (Real Good) (or the uncensored version, Pussy (Real Good)), so it would be strange if she wouldn't talk about that on this tape.. And yes, she has yet another song about how good her pussy is. It's called Pussy Like Dope, and the hook goes "This pussy like dope, similar to coke, not the kind you drink, but the kind you smoke". It's an addictive song, although the quality of the lyrics won't blow you away, but I don't think anyone would expect that from a song about vagina.

Some songs I like a lot less, are Lord Forgive Me (this has been done a thousand times), Paid Dues and Good Day. Some of these songs are just too easy, we call them 'fillers'.

The last track on the tape, a bonustrack, is called Show U How It Go and it features Gucci Mane. And I gotta say, it could have been a hot song, but Gucci Mane is extremely annoying (yyyyeaaahhh!) and I really can't understand why people still record songs with him. So the tape could have done without this bonustrack, but at least it brings a "big name" to the mixtape.

I wouldn't really recommend this mixtape to be honest, Jacki-O has released better stuff. But if you're interested, look up the mixtape trailer on YouTube and see if it gets you in the mood (it's funny!). And don't forget to check out my review of Lil Red Riding Hood, which, I can predict, will be a lot more positive.