Completing a chapter of life is never an easy task. However, through difficult times, great people find beautiful qualities about themselves and what they are capable of. UGK’s final album, UGK 4 Life, is an example of this beauty. Having been released over a year after Pimp C’s unfortunate passing, it’s easy to assume that the album would be bogged down by a sense of tragedy. In reality, the album is, from intro to outro, 100% addictive feel good music.
Pimp C Is Back from the Dead
The entire album knocks, minus the Akon-assisted “Hard as Hell.” UGK 4 Life is incredibly cohesive, and it’s devoid of a boring moment. The main staples that help gear the sound for the framework of the album are funky guitar licks, rolling bass lines, and slow humming organs. Occasional synth works complement the beats as a whole as opposed to being overbearing and a crutch, while trade mark dirty south drums don’t over crowd the production by adding incredible amounts of bang while staying crisp and defined. The real magic comes from hard hitting beats on “Still On The Grind”, and “Used To Be”, while the albums slower first single “Da Game Been Good To Me” has this gorgeous mix of tremeloed western guitars with Spanish acoustic guitars over ticking shakers/hi-hats.
Lines like “put my d-ck inside your mouth, try to fit my whole d-ck and nuts inside your mouth”, might not be the most clever rhymes ever, but that doesn’t make them any less hilarious. While a lot of topics are revisited on a few songs, the flow is the real strength in the mix. Bun B’s bassy mid-paced pronounced word play is almost as hypnotic as Pimp C’s high-pitched delivery. The result is a mix like night and day, and they complement each other perfectly. One complaint, however, is that Pimp C flat out dominates the entire album, coming off more aggressive and energetic than Bun. Even his sometimes obnoxious hooks are insanely addicting and attention grabbing. Though they won’t suit everyone’s tastes, I would have a hard time finding someone who isn’t entertained by bars like “a young, white stallion and she 20 years old, when she pop it from the back you see that hairy asshole”.
Pure, Unadulterated UGK
While the actual variety of topic selection is small, you do not buy a UGK album for socially conscious bars traded with back packers. The strength is not in the content but in the structure of “UGK 4 Life”. From the first track to the last there is a thick and smooth ambiance that makes the album almost impossible to not at least sift into subconsciously, while not being a boring repetitive formula. The album might be too smooth for a final effort, but the in your face flow of both Bun B & Pimp C force you to pay attention to what they are saying even if it might seem like little in retrospect.
Finishing a chapter of life might not be easy, especially without a core element, but this album feels like less of a “good bye” and more of a “we are still here”. I would like to think that’s what Bun B had in mind when he had to finish the project himself, and I think he cements those sentiments with one of the last lines on the album as the soft melancholy outro winds down “We are the Underground Kings”. “UGK 4 Life” is not a classic album, but it is the perfect way to say “good bye” to over a decade of music. No gimmick, no soon to be reunion, only great music and great memories.
[Review by Joe Andriulli]
Pingback: Passion of the Weiss » Blog Archive » LA Times–The Posthumous Triumph of “UGK 4 Life”
Pingback: Halftime Report: The Best and Worst Rap Albums & Songs of 2009 (So Far) | The Rap Up