By Odeisel

Blink 182’s Travis Barker hs become the live drummer of choice for rappers trying to add a little kick to music (and get some mainstream association while they’re at it.) Barker calls in a few markers for his solo album Give The Drummer Some, which features a host of rappers from all areas adding their touches to mainly drum and guitar-fueled tracks. The result is an album with some strong individual records that isn’t as cohesive as it could have been.

There are some definitive highs on the album. Cypress Hill has worked with Rock & Roll before and are totally at home on “Beat Goes On.” They understand the different energy needed to overpower live drums and B Real delivers. The Clipse sound renewed and present more evidence that Pusha T is not as good solo on “City of Dreams.” Stadium synth and booming drums are flaunted by an underlying snare drum and crooner Kobe (not the Mamba) are suitable background music for the dynamic duo’s “the realest that wrote it, the illest that spoke it, coulda got life for some of the shit quoted” tales.

“Let’s Go” is a rap relay race featuring Busta Rhymes, Yelawolf and Twista with muppet-like Lil Jon on the ad libs. The faint electric guitars and a mid tempo and snare pace this high speed verbal assault, where the strength is more delivery and speed than lyrics. The Cool Kids star on the slow muscular “Jump Down” with deliberate, measured flows that hugs the distortion-infused, big drum beat.  Guitar driven and cold-hearted bassline powered “Cool Head” is a title colored with irony for someone like Kid Cudi, but he smoothly slithers through this track with the smooth gait of a hitman. Tech N9ne and Bun B creep through the appropriately murky “Raw Shit.”

Tom Morello stars on the RZA and Rae rapped “Carry It.” The RZA is fully aware of the Rock DNA and adjusts his cadence accordingly, ebbing and flowing with the crests and troughs of the beat. Morello’s guitar solo at the end is spaced out and impassioned. Lupe Fiasco bounces all over the high-speed drums of “If You Want To” with the most spirited lyrical and technical performance of the album, switching flows, rhyme schemes and speeds while still dropping killer lines.

There is filler on the album, where the rappers don’t respond to the presence of live instruments or kick the same shit stylistically they normally do. The Slaughterhouse-helmed “Devil’s Got A Hold Of Me” is similar in nature to many songs they have in the catalog. The rhymes are dope as always, Royce in particular, with the subtle “I signed a deal with my maker, Satan’s my record company” line that can be taken a couple shady ways. E-40 delivers on “Carry It” but Snoop Dogg and Ludacris mail in their verses they could write in their sleep.

“Just Chill” featuring Beans and Bun B is cool, but we’ve heard this song before. Game is off beat and delivers pedestrian rhymes as the lead rapper to “Can A Drummer Get Some.” Weezy starts strong but peters out near the end of his verse with shout outs,. Ross shouts out Rodimez from Juice (Rapido Muerte) but ultimately there isn’t enough emotional movement in the beat to be compelling. The Spanish guitar Western rhythm of “Saturday Night” is out of place on this album as is Steve Aoki feature “Misfits.”

Give The Drummer Some is a solid album that feels more like a compilation than a cohesive project. To his credit you can hear the drums but they don’t overpower most of the compositions. Where the guests embraced the different sound, the music wins. When they deliver in their same manner, it doesn’t take advantage of live instrumentation and lacks energy. The work is less than the sum of its parts because there isn’t enough continuity from track to track. Luckily the parts still add up to something bump worthy.
3.75 out of 5

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