Buc Fifty may be a somewhat unknown name to most, but his history is rich. Most hip-hop fans have heard him, although they probably wouldn’t recognize his voice ten years later after his high-pitched “cocoa butter in my hand” verse on The Pharcyde’s “On The Downlow”. Yes, this is the same emcee who was a part-time Wascal on the side, who while holding down his title as the only gangsta rapper on Battle Axe, also shares a deal with Delicious Vinyl as the smoked-out Buckwhead (keep it mackin’!).   

    Heads have been anticipating Buc Fifty’s solo release for some time now, thanks to his long string of collaborative 12″ singles with producer The Alchemist. As Al said in an interview with HipHopSite in 2000, the duo have an entire album recorded, ready to drop, however, Bad Man isn’t it. While Battle Axe has the Buc Fifty / Alchemist album slated for 2003 release, the paperwork is keeping it in the vaults for now, while Bad Man whets our appetite. 

    Bad Man begins with the lead single on the same name, where Buc provides a chilling narrative of when he got jumped into a gang, over Aerosmith’s “Dream On” loop. Buc spits this same type of narrative on impressive tracks like “Gangster (Murderville)”, featuring a ridiculous beat by Bizarre Ride II producer J-Swift, not to mention the Ralph M (Funkdoobiest) produced “Life Ain’t Fair”, which recounts Buc coming up in the 80′s, with a Run DMC-like track that also pays homage to that same era. Buc’s shining moment here is “I’m Sorry”, a truly heartfelt dedication to his daughter.

    Sure Alchemist is missed, but Battle Axe’s stable of producers holds it down just as well. With his dark, heavy basslines, Rob The Viking does a good job of recreating Al’s sound without sounding like a cheap knock off on “See The Light”, “Still Getting Over”, and “Like A G”. Meanwhile, The Viking explores his own sound without sacrificing any of his talent on the piano heavy “Drama” and the excellent posse cut “Go For Mine” (feat. Kutfather & Madlib). 

    While Buc may need to re-examine the structure of his hooks, and he spends a good majority of his album recounting gang tales and talking tounge-in-cheek gangsta shit, he’s got enough personality where this is entertaining, and thanks to the team of producers, it sounds dope. While at 17 tracks length, this is a long album, and at times it drags on, it further reaffirms the quality product coming out Battle Axe at the moment, and only scratches the surface for the release of Buc and Al’s forthcoming Marvel Team-Up.