Gangsta Boo - Enquiring Minds, Vol. 2: The Soap Opera (CD)

All Music Guide

For a splitsecond, Gangsta Boo changed her name to Lady Boo and declared she was giving up the cussing. Looks like it was just drama, or maybe a ploy to disassociate herself from her former crew, the Three 6 Mafia. Since her last album she's moved to Atlanta and hookedup with the Beat Bullies production team and former Xscape vocalist Kandi Burruss. The change did her good since Enquiring Minds, Vol. 2 is miles ahead of her Both Worlds 69 even if it doesn't have anything approaching the crossover appeal of "Where Dem Dollas At." This is Gangsta Boo as raw and driven as ever, and you don't want to be on the receiving end of her ire. "Sippin Spinnin," (title changed to "Sprewell Spinning," for the single release) is so catchy even Boo can't resist quoting it elsewhere in the album. The Lady Boo moniker gets mentioned on the excellent "Cutty Girl," with the rapper sounding rapid and fierce like Lady Saw while Kandi Burruss' smooth vocals offer sweet relief. When Burruss is around, Boo ba...cks off the vulgarities, and this kind of schizophrenia is the album's biggest drawback. It feels like Boo got halfway through a righteous album before being ghettoreborn as a streetwalker with attitude. Despite the rapper jumping between names, song titles changing last minute, and a viewpoint that flipflops, Enquiring Minds 2 isn't the mess it could have been. Chalk it up to raw talent or street tenacity. David Jeffries, All Music Guide Read more Less