Planet Ill Breakdown:Joe Budden Feat. Crooked I-Sober Up

Posted On: October 11, 2010
Posted By: planetillshelby
Comments: 0

By shelz.

Joe Budden’s Mood Muzik Mondays rolls into its second week with “Sober Up” featuring Crooked I. It’s a smoothed out pill poppin’, coke- sniffin’ anthem that takes some elements from “Hail Mary,” “Murder Was The Case” and Jigga’s “Meet The Parents” and rakes them over the synthetic coals.

You would think drawing from classics like that would produce something pretty dope. Not quite.

Little electro-sparkler accents usher you into the song that breaks down into the first verse with a fluid synth line and a muffled drum that sounds like it’s been covered in burlap. It’s simple, possibly too much so. There are atmospheric bursts here and there but the muting makes the track a bit dull. It puts the lyrics front and center and gives Budden and fellow horseman Crooked I nowhere to hide, but they don’t need crevices to rest in, right?

Maybe there is some lyrical content in this song that’s not about needing the high. Budden gets into true self vs. image, being arrogant vs. lacking self-esteem and the tricky path back to spirituality. It would be interesting if we hadn’t heard it before. Considering how derivative the track is you would hope the lyrics wouldn’t be as well, but we aren’t so lucky. Budden’s internal conflict-as-song theme is coming across a bit tedious.

Crooked I adds some life. The growl is turned down, but there. Not even the sex can heal the pain. Therapy won’t help. Dad didn’t want him. His life is a mess. His friends are all 6 feet under. Wait. I think we’ve heard this from him as well.

We know Budden is capable of making amazing music and I still hope Mood Muzik 4 will be a testament to that. I don’t hear it in “Sober Up.” Maybe a few crevices wouldn’t have hurt. Better luck next Monday, Joe.

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