Scorpion fails to escape dreaded sophomore slump
By ARIENNE THOMPSON
Scene Music Critic
The concept of artistic growth is a complicated thing. Though hard to achieve, many have managed to fulfill the task of maintaining an artistic persona from album to album, while still allowing room for creative and musical growth — take artists like OutKast and Erykah Badu, for example.
Unfortunately, however, Ruff Ryders' first lady Eve fails to expand her style, and with her second release entitled Scorpion, displays exactly what a stagnant, uninspired hip-hop artist sounds like.
The words "sophomore slump" never rang more true than on Eve's most recent release. Well, DMX's ridiculous album Flesh of My Flesh does come in a close second, but that is beside the point. Getting back to Eve, Scorpion is a sad collection of trite and unimpressive tracks. Teeming with unoriginal skits, overused beats, and elementary lyrics, this album falls short of any promises of hip-hop domination that Eve may have mentioned on her debut release.
The produced beats are tired, as is Eve's own material. She falls face first into the cliché "niggas and bitches" mentality leaving little room for true hip-hop fans to take her seriously. Though this sub-culture has made her rap brethren (performers such as Master P, Juvenile and Nelly) megastars with mega money, something about Eve speaks to a talent able to transcend such nonsense.
Scorpion kicks off with the MTV friendly "Who's That Girl," in which Eve once again brags about her unparalleled skills and abilities. Infused with the sounds of brass, the production on this track adds some depth to an otherwise shallow song, but not enough to salvage it. Throughout the album, production credits include Ruff Ryders' in-house prodigy Swizz Beatz and Grammy winning producer Dr. Dre. However, these two do little to rescue Eve from herself, as she becomes bogged down by her own stale lyrics.
Guest appearances by other artists also provide little relief on this album. The guitar-twanged "Blow Yo Mind" credits Gwen Stefani, but on close listen, it's hard to tell if the feisty lead singer of pop-ska band No Doubt actually showed up for the recording of the song. Fellow Ruff Ryder DMX surfaces on the annoying "Scream Double R" to contribute his big bark and little bite to the album, proving his disappointing status as the new pop-rap artist of the year. Nevertheless, on the most surprising and misplaced track, Eve enlists the help of Bob's kids… Marley, that is. All parties involved had good intentions for "No, No, No," but lackluster lyrics and Eve's bad attempt at being a reggae singer make this track a failure among many. It is as if she set out with the goal of mixing various musical genres on the album, but did so with very little direction or planned artistry.
Overall, Scorpion does very little to impress the listener. Though Eve's forceful delivery and unabashed confidence have already made her a star, she will have to do much more on any future albums to solidify her status as a real rap artist.
All Scene Stories for Tuesday, March 20, 2001
