Baby Bash Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
In the years leading up to his 2007 release Cyclone, cool and collected rapper Baby Bash found himself a comfortable home somewhere between pop-rap and street-level rap and able to record with the likes of Jennifer Lopez while still being able to kick it with hood legend E-40. Cyclone features the hardcore ballers Pimp C and Mistah FAB on "Mean Mug," an exciting, hard cut tacked onto an overall polished and too safe album. Nowhere near as uncontrolled as its title suggests, Cyclone landed on its street date without an explicit version in sight. It's no big surprise Bash is being marketed to teen girls with his soft voice, soft looks, and love of words like "Bubbalicious," but the hardcore "Spreewells Spinnin'" with Chingo Bling sounds absolutely ridiculous with its 30 or so cuss words removed. Thankfully, the more pop moments come off much better. Lil Jon brings one of his identifiable and infectious beats for "Cyclone" with T-Pain, while "What Is It" features the island-flavored stylings of Sean Kingston and a rapid string of amusing one-liners from Bash. Working in numerous superhero references while trying to seduce a girl that's "fresh from Bath & Body Works" makes "Supa Chic" a highlight, and everything else is at least "good" with "Numero Uno" and "Na Na" both earning a solid B+. Problem is, Cyclone wants Justin Timberlake-sized sales so bad it sells short by half what makes Baby Bash interesting and ends up a pleasant diversion, but nothing memorable. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'The Latin Hard Hitters'
Release Date 4/24/2007
Tracks 12
Label Mojo Entertainment
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Acknowledging crunk and guest spots more than last time out, Baby Bash offers a lighter follow-up to the excellent Tha Smokin' Nephew, one that's more fun but less filling. That's cool, because Super Saucy isn't so much a letdown as a party alternative to Nephew with the swaggering Bash sounding perfectly at home with this radio-friendlier material. Before he was basking in the Houston ghetto sun. Now he's basking in the fame and fortune Nephew brought, and you can't blame the guy for sounding "bubbalated." Slinging the slang is one of the things Bash does best on the album, along with adding some much needed freshness to the tired crooner/rapper combo, otherwise known as the "this one's for the ladies" numbers. Two of them start the album -- "Baby I'm Back" with Akon and the title track with Avant -- but guest shots from Nate Dogg, Paul Wall, and Pitbull bring the album back to the hood, a place where Bash excels and calls on his boy, producer Happy Perez. Perez works his busy, hooked-filled, Texas magic on numerous tracks as he borrows the beats of everyone from Petey Pablo to Pink Floyd to support Bash's winning raps. The album never runs out of ideas, and the energy is high all the way to the final track, a sparkling number that includes Bash but is really just a preview of Houston's next big thing, the Boyz II Men-sounding 3rd Wish. It's the track that really points out the album's thrown-together feel, but with so much well-done good-time music, the crowd-pleasing Super Saucy is worth considering and generally "bubbalicious." ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Mènage a Trois doesn't explain itself in the liner notes, the little "includes the hits..." sticker on the front, or anywhere else. It's a collection of Baby Bash's earlier works, all on the Dopehouse label and mostly under his Baby Beesh moniker. The recordings are rougher, more street, and way less produced than Tha Smokin' Nephew was, but Bash is a fantastic, charismatic rapper and always has been. Problem is these recordings flowed better in their original context rather than in this overly long, poorly paced compilation. A bunch of tracks from the Ultimate Cartel album are stuck up front, a good bit of On tha Cool takes up the middle, and 2001's Savage Dreams fills the last third. Going backward chronologically works sometimes for career overviews, but hearing the production get skimpier and Bash/Beesh's raps getting less fully formed as you go on isn't much fun without a liner note history lesson. There's plenty of highlights like the tougher remix of "Mènage a Trois," the thugging ode to drugs "Esquina," and the lustful "Crazy Love," but Bash plays a small role in the last tune and only shows up for a minute or so on other tracks. With Kid Frost, Shadow, South Park Mexican, and Latino Velvet all appearing, this is a great way to see the family Bash grew up in, but once again the text inside is no help. Great music in a bad context. The skilled Bash deserves better than that. [Mènage a Trois was initially packed with a bonus DVD including interviews and the "Mènage a Trois" video.] ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Tha Smokin' Nephew: Screwed & Chopped'
Release Date 3/2/2004
Tracks 17
Label Universal
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The screwed-and-chopped phenomenon moves west to Texas as Baby Bash gets his Tha Smokin' Nephew album remixed by the Choppaholix. While the screwed (slowed and pitched down) and chopped (remixed with stutters and stops) style is usually associated with Atlanta's cough-syrup sippers, Bash is a boastful weed head and the Choppaholix understand. Bash's original album was much smoother and mellow than the usual boisterous crunk that gets this treatment, so it had to make their job easier. But the Choppaholix do have some trippy tricks up their sleeves. One of the best is their love of layering multiple Bash raps, one running behind the other, and ping-ponging between the two. It's a freakish listen -- one that will have the less adventurous running toward the "stop" button -- and it's one of the most hallucinatory sounds to ever grace a rap album. They're also more active remixers than the competition, chopping some tracks drastically and breaking in for shout-outs often. The album is resequenced in a way so it really comes alive in the third quarter, making it a tough ride to screwed-and-chopped newcomers. Jump ahead to the "Suga Suga" remix, then take the ride from "Oh Wow" to the end and you've got a wonderful introduction to the "I feel like I'm melting" world of screwed and chopped. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Tha Smokin' Nephew'
Release Date 9/23/2003
Tracks 17
Label Universal
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
It happens over and over. Regional hit gets rapper signed to a major label and a subpar album ends up being rushed out. On the strength of Baby Bash's Snoop-like quick and effortless delivery and lively production from Happy Perez, Tha Smokin' Nephew bucks the trend. A refreshing combination of street smarts and respect for a woman's body and character, "Suga Suga" is the high-profile single (originally released under Baby Bash's Baby Beesh moniker). Included are both a dancehall-inspired remix and the more laid-back original that brings the keen observations of "It Was a Good Day" to mind, minus the anger and paranoia. That's not to say Bash is without annoyance, but Houston, TX, police must be more forgiving of chronic blunt smokers than those in California since Tha Smokin' Nephew is more concerned with getting its own thing going than changing the world. Dismissive of the get-rich-quick mindset on "Oh Wow" and "kissing the drama goodbye" on "Don't Disrespect My Mind," Baby Bash comes off as insightful and more concerned with the long-term than the competition. Happy Perez's sense of pacing and structure makes the album flow smoothly despite sounding like G-funk one minute and the sunny suburban reggae of Sublime the next. Guest appearances are left to the Houston crew to keep Bash comfortable without a Busta or Jay-Z in sight. Although it was mixed in the snowy land of Norway, Big Ice's guest production on "Image of Pimp" brings the needed old-school funk and agrees with the rest of the Texas-based album. At 17 tracks it runs a little long, but there are only a few seeds and sticks to pick out of Baby Bash's fat bag. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Get Wiggy! collection features a variety of underground rap artists, most of them from the West Coast. There are a few big-name artists here that might turn some heads, most notably E-40, South Park Mexican, Fat Joe, Frost, Coolio, B-Legit, and Ritchie Rich. However, most of these artists only spit one verse while lesser-known rappers such as Baby Bash fill out the album; in fact, Baby Bash is all over this album, rapping on the majority of the songs. A few producers handle the majority of the beats: Smoke, Philly Blunt, and Johnny Z, in addition to a few others who produce one track each. In the end, it's unclear what this album is intended to be, a various-artists collection or a Baby Bash album. Either way, Get Wiggy! isn't that impressive of a collection, even with the big names, mostly because of how random the album seems. You're not sure exactly what Get Wiggy! is suppose to be, since it features rappers from all coasts and has no overlying theme or concept. It's perhaps best to appreciate the sometimes engaging guest appearances and not get consumed with this album's problems. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
