Not one to cater to the feint of heart, Buc starts the album on a rather  grave note with “Live No More,” and continues that theme throughout
challenging even the most optimistic point of view.  With the continuous string plucks backing the sounds of deep humming akin to monks in a
monastery, Buc rhymes “I don’t know what I’m here for/serve the devil, praise the lord/one thing I know that’s for sure/I don’t wanna live no
more.”

    Receiving the majority of the production credits on the LP, producer Jay Swift provides numerous backdrops for Buc to vent his evil thoughts on. 
When the timely drums and relaxing melody for “Oh Christ” come on, Buc runs through his life stages and details his sins.  Asking for forgiveness Buc
pleads “I swear on my life I won’t do it again.”  Then on the laid back funky baseline to “Feeling,” Buc gives a glimpse into his day-to-day and  addresses a homie who stabbed him in his back, his significant other and those who hate on’em.

    Though Fifty is able to catch the listener with his distinct voice, macabre look on life and ability to produce complete songs, his flow rarely changes
and his lyrics fail to catch the ear because of the lack of inflection in his voice.  Most definitely not forcing anything, a light-hearted party joint might have helped the tone of the LP as well as give it a more rounded feel.  You have to give credit where credit is due though.  In the smaller scale rap world (smaller budgeted) the possibility of grabbing a Neptunes banger is non-existent.  Therefore the artist must work from the ground up and survive on homegrown talent alone.  Buc Fifty has done this well and proven to the world that you don’t have to stunt to be heard.

    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.