In 2004, after ten-plus years in the game, Twista finally saw breakthrough success with his Atlantic Recordings release, Kamikaze. Led by two chart topping, Kanye West produced singles - “Slow Jamz” and “Overnight Celebrity”, respectively. The album not only revamped the career of a rapper that could have easily been left in the 90′s, but also doubled as a #1 single for Kanye West, and helped catapult the R&B career of Jamie Foxx. 2005 saw the release of The Day After - but would it see the same success as Kamikaze?

     Despite the fact that Twista is one of the most able lyricists to hold a mic, not to mention the great granddaddy of the double-time flow (and perhaps the best at it), The Day After fails to capture the magic found on his last album. Reason being is that Twista chose the softer route with this release, using much of the album’s playtime for summer jams and poppy R&B collabos. With “Slow Jamz” working so well, the Chi-Town emcee attempted to recreate that formula several times on The Day After. The most blatant rip is “Girl Tonight” (feat. Trey Songz), which even finds Twista even suggesting they again “Get into Isley Brothers / Get into Sade / Get into some R. Kelly / Get into some Marvin Gaye.” The forumla is washed-rinsed-and-repeated a few more times on the album, such as on “Chocolate Fe’s and Redbones” (feat. Johnny P) and “When I Get You Home” (feat. Pharrell & Jamie Foxx). The Darkchild produced “So Lonely” (feat. Mariah Carey) actually has a little more edge than the others, with Mariah’s breathy hook working as the track’s backbone. However, additional snoozers like “Do Wrong” (feat. Lil Kim), “Lavish” (feat. Pharrell) and “Had To Call” (feat. Snoop Dogg) don’t help get the album out of it’s sleepy state.

     The results are a bit better when Twista gets out of player mode, however with so much time of the album dedicated to it, it leaves the whole project sounding uneven. The decent “Get It How You Live” finds Twista with non-speed rhymes on a patented Scott Storch beat, while darker tracks like “The Day After”, “Heartbeat”, and “Check That Hoe” find Twista more in his element. The climax of the record comes at the end, with the ridiculous “Hit The Floor”, which finds Twista and Pitbull heating things up over a nutzoid Mr. Collipark track. 

    This album isn’t awful, but it is a letdown after the superior Kamikaze, which featred a much more even balanced version of Twista. Too much slow jamming paces the lighting Tung emcee, making “The Day After” feel like a bad hangover.