Lil Mama "Voice Of The Young People Review

I must say that I am really feeling this album!!





With the female rapper scene lacking greatly, Lil Mama steps in and fills that void. With "Voice of the Young People" she shows that she maybe here to stay. On what is undoubtly a superb debut from 18 yr old female mc, Lil Mama comes hard. There's no half-stepping. The album starts off with the hit "Lip Gloss" on which Mam boasts that her lip gloss has all the girls jockin'. Lip Gloss. Next to Lip Gloss, there is G-Slide and Shawty Get Loose, which are radio friendly tracks. G-Slide at points is a little cheesy, but then she comes in hard when the beat changes and makes it up for it, and on Shawty Get Loose, she hits the dance floor and shows that not only can she flow, she can dance too. Mama's flow at times is cocky, and she knows it to. On "What It Is (Strike A Pose)" which boasts the second T-Pain cameo on the album, she sets the bar for all welcome competitors, she let's them know "I'm what it is", stating her prescense here on the rap scene. They're welcome to come at her, but she leaves them wary of what they are going up against. Then there's "Pick It Up", one more track directed at the dance floor. It's a good track, but compared to the rest of the stellar material on the album, just like, Lip Gloss, G-Slide, and Shawty Get Loose, it gets lost, but she makes up for it with the rest of the album. L.I.F.E brings Lil Mama showing that not only can she rap, she can sing as well. This track tells the struggles of a young woman who goes through living with a mother addicted to drugs, teenage pregnancy and an abusive boyfriend. You never know if it's Lil Mama's story, or if that is just what is, a story, but you do know that her flow is so believable, you have no choice but to listen and hang on to her every word. Voice of the Young People is a very versatile album. She doesn't just rap, she sings on the tracks as well, and her voice is actually very good. She switches it up on certain tracks, so as not to leave you just getting one dimension of her. She shows off all of her sides. On tracks like "Stand Up", the DJ Khaled produced "One Hit Wonder" and "College", Lil Mama shows off her extreme lyric capability. She is amazing, and surprising. "Stand Up" is the callout to the crisises that plague the black community today such as teenage pregnancies, dead beat dads who don't want to grow up, and the projects. She's calling everyone to stand up and speak on whats going on, and not to mention, this is where she SANGS! "One Hit Wonder" statest that Lip Gloss is not the best of her. She states that she is hear to stay when she says, "one hit wonder? one hit please!" She states here that she is the voice of the young people and that she is one of the fewest female mcs of the century, which is indeed very true. Her flow resembles a young Left-Eye here. "College" shows how good she can use her lyrics. From the beginning of the song, you think that she's leaving for college, spending her last day with her mother, seeing other's crying with their parents, but it's not until she and her mother enter a gate and aree checked, that you realize that college, is prison, where her father currently studies. Then there's what maybe the best track on this album full of surprises, and that's "Broken Pieces". It's backed with a guitar instrumental. She sings and raps of heartbreak, being caught up in love with a guy who doesn't want to do right. She goes and takes a look in the mirror and raps to herself that she needs to get it together. This shows that she can be a crossover success. There's also tracks like "Swim" and "Truly In Love" which also shows Mama's crossover potential. They'r both single material, and they both leave you impressed with her. Lil Mama makes you remember what a really GOOD female mc was like. She's got what it takes. Though she may be the Voice of the young people right now, if she keeps this up she could be the voice for female mcs everywhere. She's showed that she can stand up with the greats, and that with her multi talents, she is hear to stay. What a great way to make a debut.

Recommend: WHOLE ALBUM, but standout tracks are: "L.I.F.E", "Broken Pieces", "Swim", "Stand Up", "One Hit Wonder", "College"