“Okay, now put your hand on your head, and make a face like you know you did something really bad….Excellent, I think that’s a wrap!”

Black Sheep once did a song called “Flavor Of The Month”. It was about the rise and fall of a one-hit wonder type of rapper that lived out his fifteen minutes of fame too quickly. We’ve seen this happen time and again in hip-hop, and sadly, the industry – from retail to press – are quick to jump on the bandwagon of whoever has a hot single or mixtape at the time. Looking back at this past decade, any number of new faces have scored huge, number one club hits, but faded off into obscurity shortly thereafter. Gorilla Zoe (“Hood Figga”), Rich Boy (“Throw Some D’s”), Mims (“This Is Why I’m Hot”), all come to mind. Looking even further back into the 90′s, where are the longtime fans still holding out and supporting No Limit, Black Rob, and Drama? You’d be hard pressed to find someone today that will tell you that any of these artists had an album worth a shit, but back then there were plenty of people singing their praises. Let’s face it – while we all have no problem grinding in the club to whatever the new hot shit is, we don’t buy these types of artists albums. Period. There’s no loyalty beyond the hit singles, as usually this is all this type of artist has.

Gucci Mane is the latest flavor of the month – an Atlanta based artist who’s carved out his niche by rolling closely with other, similar minded (and sounding) trappers such as OJ The Juiceman, Shawty Lo, and Young Jeezy (who he subsequently had a falling out with). While Jeezy has been able to transcend the one-hit wonder status thanks to his endlessly quotable lines of stupid-brilliance and hypnotically repetitive ad-libs, Gucci Mane adopts a similar style in hopes of catching a piece of the action. Gucci’s one of a kind voice gives him a likable style that helps balance out softer R&B hits like Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed”, Omarion’s “I Get It In”, and Mario’s “Break Up”, not to mention his own occasional hood anthems “Freaky Gurl” (feat. Ludacris) and recent club-scorcher “Wasted”. However given that Gucci’s somewhat like yesterday’s Jeezy, it’s only a matter of time before the streets are unimpressed with him as well. Ask 50 Cent how this feels.

It would help however, if Gucci Mane had a hot album on his hands. From the looks of this month’s XXL Magazine, one might actually think so, where The State Vs. Radric Davis was rated a 4 out of 5 stars. However, just two years earlier, nobody seemed to give a fuck about Gucci Mane, a time when more realistic scores were given to his Back To The Traphouse album, earning 1 star from HipHopDX and and “F” from Rap Reviews. It’s a sign of the times when the critical mass switches it’s tune about an artist overnight, so let’s get down to brass tacks here: are we rating how hot his album is, or how hot his buzz is?

As usual, this type of album spares no expense, assaulting it’s audience with a 20-track playlist, just enough music to throw at the wall in hopes that something will stick. What has definitely stuck is his Usher and Pollow The Don assisted single, “Spotlight”, a romantic, end-of-the-night type jam in the tradition of Fergie’s “Glamourous”. As he has proven on this year’s batch of R&B appearances, this style seems to work for him, so naturally similar tracks are in order. “Sex In Crazy Places” is a dripping piece of radio fodder as Bobby V, Nikki Minaj, and Trina all join in this disturbing orgy of a collaboration, while the overly commercial “Bad Bad Bad” featuring Keyshia Cole is sure to make it’s mark in 2010. However this is what sells an album, not what makes it good. Let’s not confuse the two.

This style however a far cry from what is offered the rest of the way, as Gucci is a trap music artist through-and-through. Songs like “Heavy”, “Bingo”, and “Volume” define his style perfectly, just asking to be played at the club while ballers toss their dollar bills into the sky. However an overabundance of similar sounding songs seems to make everything run together, as Gucci endlessly prattles on about diamonds and cash, and hardly as clever as any of his platinum selling peers. His peers are in fact what keep this album somewhat interesting, as hearing different voices from time-to-time mildly helps break the monotony. Lil Wayne and Cam’ron are a welcome addition to the murky “Stupid Wild”, while Rick Ross helps balance out “All About The Money”. Unfortunately, while Bun B, Devin The Dude, and to a degree, E-40 are appreciated on the pro-marijuana “Kush Is My Cologne”, too bad it suffers from the sleepiest of beats.

Aside from most of this album being overwhelmingly sub-par, there are some particularly embarrassing, laughable moments that you can use as examples when people try to tell you it’s good. You can simply say to them, “Wait, let me get this straight. Are you telling me that you like “Classical”, the opening song where Gucci Mane employs a church choir to sing his name like it’s some epic event?” You can also pull their card for liking an album that includes “Lemonade”, where Gucci professes his love for all things yellow, while children sing the hook (?) or the derivative drug dealing anthem “Gingerbread Man”, an adlib tour-de-force featuring OJ The Juiceman. And who can forget the syrupy “I Think I’m In Love”? We can.

The industry’s current love-affair with Gucci Mane represents how jaded we have all become as journalists and industry peeps, as many have forgotten the difference between a hot album and a hot artist. Just like J.T. Money and Ying Yang Twins, this isn’t an album that people will be talking about in five years, despite the immense buzz behind it. Hurry up and get a scoop before it’s gone. - D.T. Swinga