Homecoming - Tahir

This Tallahassee-born rapper tries to balance Dirty South bounce with the political awareness of his Florida compatriots, Dead Prez, on his full-length debut. Sounding at times like a more refined and socially conscious No Limit release, Homecoming interweaves party tunes with calls for enlightenment. Unfortunately, Tahir doesn't really have anything new to say. The bass-heavy rhythms and call-and-response vocals are overly familiar, although this would be a forgivable limitation if Tahir came up with more songs as catchy as "Army Boys." The messages aren't particularly new either; you may find positive values in the statement of purpose at the beginning of "Army Boys" ("We the People Army, come together as a unit, so that we can all live better lives"), the call for family solidarity in "Never Alone," and the dedication to "all the political prisoners worldwide" in "Willpower," but ultimately the political awareness seems to boil down to the standard anti-establishment posturing of "f*ck the law, f*ck the cops" ("Raw and Treal"). Overall this isn't a bad album, but it isn't anything remarkable either. ~ Todd Kristel, All Music Guide