For many artists that have a mainstream sound, it's sometimes not that hard for them to gain radio success and popularity when they make their debut. When Ace Hood came on to the scene in 2008, things kind of got off to a slow start for him. He had decent singles ("Cash Flow" and "Ride") but it wasn't enough for people to stop and take notice to him. But being under the wing of DJ Khaled since day one, that was bound to change and it did. While his first two albums (his 2008 debut Gutta and 2009's Ruthless) were to most people, forgettable, it all came around for Ace in 2011 with the single "Hustle Hard". One of the biggest records that year. Because of that, his third album Blood, Sweat & Tears which he dropped that year became his highest selling album in the first week. To me, I thought that album was merely an average project despite having strong singles from it. Well now it's time for album number five. Trials & Tribulations. Based off of the last album and the kind of music Ace Hood is known for making, my expectations for this were not high at all. But honestly, this album was average but yet better than I expected. While Ace Hood has a strong southern mainstream sound, the one thing I've always liked about him is the topics he occasionally talks about. He's done it a few times in the past but on here he does it more than ever. On the album he speaks highly on many deep and emotional topics concerning himself, his life, family, struggle and survival in the streets (for him and others), betrayal, issues and/or tragedies that plague today's society and many more meaningful messages. Considering this, and looking at the title of this album, this may have been a concept album attempt by Ace. The overall feel is just really emotional, sympathetic and meaningful. It's good to see somebody like Ace Hood, who I label as another mainstream trap rapper, tackle these kind of topics. Topics other rappers similar to him are not even thinking about touching. While majority of the content on here was positive, the production kinda takes away from it. The beats weren't that bad they just don't mesh well with the song topics. If Ace is gonna rap about these things then he needs to have a better beat selection. Use more soulful, jazzy production to match the emotion and overall content of the songs (perhaps he should give Big K.R.I.T. a call). Anyway, let me start now with some notable tracks. "Another Statistic" was definitely my favorite track and is quite self explanatory. This was one of those tracks where he talks about surviving in the streets and staying away from trouble. Trying to avoid being "another statistic". He references things like Trayvon Martin, Emmitt Till and the Boston Marathon bombing as examples. Definitely the most moving song to me on the album. A song just as moving was the track "Mama". This was a very emotional and powerful dedication to his mother. Someone he mentions a lot in his music. What really set this song off was the hook by Betty Wright. She gave strong, soulful, gospel-like vocals that almost turned this into a gospel song. We've seen songs like this done before (2Pac's "Dear Mama", Kanye West's "Hey Mama" etc.). Honestly, this could be up there with those. The religious-like theme continues on "My Bible" which has my favorite beat on the whole album. This is the type of production that I said he needs to rap on for topics like the ones he chooses. On here he spits a lot biblical related lyrics (quoting scriptures and such). Now obviously Ace is not a lyricist but he was alright lyrically here. "The Come Up" features Anthony Hamilton and here Ace talks the most about coming from nothing to something. Basically talking about overcoming the struggle to get to the top and/or achieve your goals. Cool song. He gets more political on "Fuck Da World". He lashes out at the law, the government and other leaders. Also speaking on the evils that happen in this world by corrupt people. Referencing things like the Colorado movie theater shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. Another song with a positive message. Well now the songs I had issues with. "We Outchea" would have been a much more enjoyable song. But Ace Hood's look-alike Lil Wayne gets on the track and ruins everything with his God awful lyrics ("I fucked a bitch with a broom stick/the same broom that I didn't clean my room with", "when opportunity knocks I ran out of the back door/shit I thought it was the cops"). Didn't like it because of that. On "How I'm Raised" he did exactly what I feared. Auto-tune. The whole song. The beat is okay but him on auto-tune is like hearing scratches on a chalk board. Terrible. "Rider" is the lone song for the ladies that features Chris Brown and well...it was weak. Surprising considering on his last album he did a song with Chris Brown for the ladies which ended up being a big hit. This just sounded off. He trying to describe the perfect "ride or die chick" but just didn't deliver it well. He even takes 2Pac's "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" and flips it a bit. Bad attempt at a line sample. You all probably guessed that I'm not a fan of the single "Bugatti", but I'd rather hear it than the remix version because my God was it awful. Average to wack verses from every featured artist involved. Especially the absolutely dreadful verse from Wiz Khalifa where he sounds like he's imitating Juicy J. This was quite possibly the worst remix of 2013. Overall, the album was a bit better than expected but still average. Ace Hood delivered strongly on song topics and content. I give it a final grade of a C. Like I stated before, I enjoying seeing Ace Hood touch on subjects like this and I'd like to see him continue to do it. Nobody else in his lane is doing this. With better and more matching production, and stepping his lyrical game up a bit, he can become much bigger and more recognized by everyone. This is song content that legends like Public Enemy made famous. Let's hope Ace Hood can continue doing this and turn hip hop more into what Chuck D said. The black CNN. End.
Final Grade: C
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