MARCH 2010 ONLINE EDITORIALS

Young, Rugged & Sick - Young, Rugged & Sick

album cover

By Erik Myers

Young. Rugged. Sick.
Those are some fairly lofty adjectives. Placed together, it’s a holy trinity of cool. Surely no one north of Blake Street could be capable of all three, right?
Despite the efforts of one smooth-talking hip-hop crew outt of FoCo, it’s not happening. Young, Rugged and Sick are no doubt young, part of an emerging local hip-hop scene with an emphasis on club poppin’ beats and life’s simple things: cash money and beautiful women. They probably got the rugged part down too; the stone glare of Joez in the press photos has this reviewer choosing his words carefully.
But sick? Nah.
The problems start at the cover art. At the forefront is B peeking over his shades and rocking a side-slung cap and one hell of a self-affirming smirk. It’s like peering into the direct-to-DVD cover of Malibu’s Most Wanted 2.
On YRS’ self-titled debut, a few tracks surpass the cheese, others not so much. “Donkey,” featuring Keyman Entertainment cohort Mavrik, is the standout on this album, with all members spitting quick and the chorus kicker of “ride it like a donkey” providing brainless fun.
That’s as good as it gets. The hook “She’s A Playa Too” seems phoned in, “Moviestar” is outright ruined by a stale Casio line. “Freak” features some processed chipmunk voice parroting the song title relentlessly. Don’t expect to be given much mercy here.
myspace.com/youngruggedandsick