ALBUM REVIEW: Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

I think this album has most recently been incredibly over-hyped. BUT, after such a long, label-wrangling wait, it proves deservedly so. You get the impression as soon as Big Boi comes in at the end of “Feel Me (Intro)” and says “Damn, that weren’t nothin’ but the intro” that he has been waiting for this release, waiting for the moment he could say that, yes arrogantly, but justifiably so. The music proves nothing but calm, following the intro with “Daddy Fat Sax” it goes straight into over-drive, certainly signified with his screaming of “IT IS ONNNNN!”. And hearing his over-charged, angry and arrogant rhymes, you wouldn’t want it any other way. As the recent Big Boi For Dummies retrospective mixtape showed, he surely does have it in him, this album the proof behind the culmination of his last 3 years work. And it’s certainly true that listening to the whole album, you get this over-riding impression, of high quality couple with what must be a perfectionist attitude from Big Boi.

Songs like the Talladega Nights-referencing, classical choir sampling, “General Patton”, “Tangerine” and “Night Night” are all prime examples of this, bearing Big Boi’s overtly-technical rhymes and fast-lyricism, fully showing off his incredibly impressive flow. This same impressive nature continues across the album, even songs that in my opinion are weaker, like the Andre 3000-produced “You Ain’t No DJ” still go far to showcase Big Boi and even the wide ranging guests, like Jamie Foxx, Gucci Mane and George Clinton can’t overshadow the fact that this IS Big Boi’s album, the solo effort that the world has been waiting for.

The best song, is still in my opinion the April-released single “Shutterbug”, it samples Soul II Soul’s “Back To Life“, knocks back claims that he’s not a “Gomer Pyle” but rather a “Sgt. Slaughter”. The vocoded vocal boom, accompanied with hand-claps, grounds the bass drum beat for the song, which is undoubtedly louder and harder than many others on the album, of course it, like many of the others on the album incorporates RnB elements to great effect. The “Cut a rug/Cut a rug/Shutterbug” segments in the latter half of the song too, help craft an all-inclusive, close to summary of “Sir Luscious Left Foot” and I would have to say out of all 15 tracks this is the one you have to download.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWsvkW6rKkQ]

Yet, I can’t help but feel that if this album was free of troubles, free of labels standing in it’s way to release, it may not have been as polished or perfected before its release, and that’s not me doubting Big Boi, no, in fact, I love this album A LOT, I just wonder what the result would have been if he had recorded this over a shorter period of time, which he intends to with it’s proposed sequel, “Daddy Fat Sax: Soul Funk Crusader”. Only time will tell. To conclude, “Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son OF Chico Dusty” is sublimely brilliant. It is an album packed full of amazing songs and is definitely one of the best albums this year, so go out and get it!

DOWNLOAD: The leaked-but-not-on-the-album, Andre 3000 featuring track, “Lookin For Ya”