With his newfound freedom, Chingy dropped his 2nd LP, Powerballin’, which had the lukewarm single “Balla Baby”, but he left the casino penniless as it failed to, well, hit the Jackpot. 1 for 1 at the plate, let’s just say Chingy is going for the tiebreaker here with Hoodstar, and despite his new single with Tyrese, “Calling Me Back”, and the floor shaking drums on “Dem Jeans” (feat. Jermaine Dupri), it seems that without an affiliation Chingy isn’t the same artist. Think about it, when he was with Ludacris, he got a multiplatinum plaque. Now, that he’s with JD, he’s released one of the biggest songs of the year and has resurrected to a degree. Chingy proves with this album that he’s always capable of dropping a smash single, but can’t put an entire album together.

     The album is broken into two halves. The Hood and the Star. The first portion is dedicated to the streets and delivers with the bouncy, upbeat “Hands Up”, where Chingy gets gritty and talks about life on the blocks of STL. The sinister baseline and infectious drums on the inspirational bow-thrower “Club Getting Crowded”, produced and featuring Three Six Mafia knocks, but Chingy gets outshined by DJ Paul on the cut. Album standout and Poli Paul helmed “Cadillac Door”, featuring Midwest City, captures Chingy’s vulnerability with it’s silky guitars. Here, Chingy revisits growing up in the hood and how people shot down his dreams. “Who are you to judge me for my sins and what I did wrong? / I’m trying to live, don’t want my mama
singing that sad song.” Showing some versatility for the 1st time in three albums doesn’t last for long, as Chingy reverts back with “Nike Aurrs & Crisp Tees” which is puzzling as Nelly and Dem Franchise Boyz already covered these two subjects.

    The “Star” part of the album unfortunately doesn’t consist of star material. Other than the first two singles, tracks like the call to women to throw their “Ass n Da Aurr”, the Mannie Fresh produced “Brand New Kicks”, and “Let’s Ride” featuring Fatman Scoop, needed to be scooped right off the LP. Actually, a lot of the tracks deserve that distinction. Like most artists in today’s raplandscape, the beats outshine the lyrics, and there is no better example of this than Hoodstar. On the other hand, it sounds like other than JD, the list of top producers on the list must have given Chingy their throwaway beats, as most of them were lackluster. Did I mention he coined himself “The King of the Midwest”. After this piece of work, is he even the king of his neighborhood??

    The album opens with the gritty, Havoc produced Rotten Apple featuring 50 and Prodigy, with its screeching violins and back breaking drums where Banks tells us he’s here “to get it.” Doing his best LL impersonation, Banks misses on “Help” featuring Kiri Wilson and “Addicted” featuring Musiq Soulchild. Enter 9th Wonder, who lays the smooth, upbeat “One Night Stand”, where Blue tells the ladies that he’ll be “here today and gone tomorrow.” The lead single “Hands Up”, produced by Eminem and featuring 50, hits the spot with its high-energy and battering drums. “Cake”, the bass heavy teaser for the LP built Banks’ buzz, as he boasts: “I’ve been gone all winter, but now a nigga back for the cake / I need the bread, lil niggaz need Christmas, Banks don’t rap with a backpack, I’m in it for the money, the money / the cake!” The God Rakim lends his voice to the chorus of “You Know The Deal”, where Banks shines over concrete mid 90′s, truck blaring NYC production style, where he murders the track spewing: “All they want to do is chit chat and make tapes about him/ till they lost like Malcolm before the nation got him/ I done Timberland tanned the couple/ my wrists chunky like Campbell’s soup.”

    Never short on punchlines and braggadocio rhymes is Banks. But, this is also his downfall. “Playboy 2″ showcases usually reliable Ron Browz disappointing with a sonic massacre, where Blue Hefner continues his endless talk about his adventures since being signed. The endless gun talk gets redundant with the Needlz produced “Get Clapped”, featuring Mobb Deep, where Banks could’ve actually done better without their assistance. “Stranger” is simply strange, while “Change” sounds like it should’ve been packed into one of his “Money in the Bank” mixtapes. The Eminem produced “NY, NY” does a disservice to both the Dogg Pound / Grandmaster Flash cuts it’s modelled after, and does little to rebuild hip-hop’s capital city. Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to cater to the dominant southern region, Banks falls flat on his face with “Iceman”, featuring Young Buck, 8ball & MJG, and Scarface, as so much talent is wasted on a horrible track. The last track on the album “Gilmore”, simply sounds like the engine of a car that’s been running for too long.

    Rotten Apple personifies NYC in certain aspects, but fails to reach beyond the Mecca. Diversification is the key to the future success of Banks. It has to go beyond the girls, guns, clothes, and all the luxuries of his life. So, the sophomore slump has undoubtedly struck here. Now it’s all about “Survival”, like one of the tracks on the LP. Hunger for More may have put Banks on the fast road to stardom, but Rotten Apple brought him a few steps back. Unless he finds some way to rebound, Banks is on track to becoming to 50 what Bleek is to Jay, unfulfilled potential.