Suga Free - Just Add Water (Bonus Dvd) (Cln) (CD)

All Music Guide

Although Just Add Water is only the third album from rapper Suga Free in nine years, it is clear that he has lost none of his game in the time that's passed. The premise behind the record, as explained in the "Intro," is that it's a kind of guide to being a pimp. And while Suga Free is more than ready to give his share of advice about dealing with nosy and ungrateful women and his love for his job ("U Know My Name," for example, where he says over a smooth jazz beat, "Cuz all I really like is pimpin'," and "I only love what she do for me/I ain't getting married"), he is also willing to get a bit more personal and express some genuine emotion. "I'm Gone" and "Peace of Mind" are both about relationships that have gone wrong and that have hurt him, and in the guitardriven "The Ranger" he's the most introspective and honest he's ever been, showing the maturity he's gained since his 1997 debut, Street Gospel. He explains his reasons for pimping in a Princeesque falsetto over reverby, melanc...holy electric guitar chords, then moves into a modern rockinspired chorus of "I don't want to be like the Lone Ranger/Traveling through the world just like a stranger." These moments of reflection are a nice complement to the rest of the album, with songs about sex and women and money, and bring a little humanity to the persona Suga Free has worked so hard to create. In terms of production, Just Add Water is as good as any Gfunk record. Its beats are all smooth and clean, but there's enough diversity in instrumentation and style (the aforementioned rock found in "The Ranger" and also in "Suga Cain," the pure James Brown funk of "What U Want," complete with grunts, and the Spanish guitar in "If You Feel Me") to keep things from growing either boring or predictable. However, lyrically Suga Free's misogyny gets a little tiresome, and his rhymes have always been kind of hit or miss, which unfortunately doesn't change on this record. Although he has too many lines that involve him trying to extend singlesyllable words into four or five, he makes up for this by focusing more on his singing, which has a cadence reminiscent of Bone ThugsNHarmony. It sounds good, and ties the musical elements of the record together nicely. Just Add Water may not be the complete handbook to being a pimp, but it certainly is a kind of missive on the life of Suga Free, and is definitely worth checking out. [A clean version of the record also saw release in 2006.] - Marisa Brown, All Music Guide Read more Less