Album Review- 2 Chainz- Based on a Tru Story

So 2 Chainz, nee Tity Boi has gained an incredible buzz over the past year and a half. He has been grinding and releasing music underground for a couple of years and now he has laid the groundwork for his official feature debut, "Based on a Tru Story" which is also the name of a popular yet expensive brand of designer jeans. Using his impressive industry connections, he has been able to secure plenty of features and material, the question is, is any of it good.

Chainz starts off with a 'hook' if you can call it that from Lil' Wayne on "Yuck". He starts off strong with injury and what amounts to decent metaphors from him. The drums in the beat don't hurt the feeling either. "Dope Peddler" seems like it could be interesting, but immediately 2 Chainz' lack of ability on the mic is out in front. His flow is slow allowing you to take in each and every wack lyric. The little sample used to break up the song could have worked if there was a better artist on the song. The latest single "Birthday Song" features Kanye West and has the normal heavy bass trap beat. Ye does his thing so that is a plus. The lead single of course was "No Lie" featuring Drake on the hook and it's decent I guess.



One of the better tracks I would say is "Truly Blessed" featuring The Dream as they talk about a woman who has it going on in her life as well as physically. He follows that up with "I Luv Them Strippers" with Nicki Minaj and this will easily bang in every shake club on the East Coast. This set of songs was preceded by "I'm Different" which was a wasted chance for him to give his personality some depth. He reunites with old partner Dolla on "Stop Me Now" where he talks about coming up hustling. This isn't the worst song but its so elementary.


Chainz gets back to normal business on "Money Machine" where he goes back into getting money and killing some girl's weave. One of the more unusual appearances is by Cap 1 (if this is the same one that wa sout years ago) on "Wut We Doin" where he outshines 2 Chainz by having a different flow and style on the song though there isn't any substance there. "Ghetto Dreams" features Scarface and John Legend who seems like he will do a song with anyone to stay relevant. Mr. Face makes this song worth listening and could have taken over the other two verses truthfully. "In Town" which features Mike Posner has Mr. Tru Religion talking to a lady friend about how its going down since he is in the area. The normal version of the album ends with an average Chris Brown feature on "Countdown". The song is forgettable if only because it sounds like every other Chris Breezy feature track.



"Like Me", a deluxe bonus could have been a great track with some one else on it. The hook is a bit weird but it works. Chainz unfortunately drops gems like "Chink chink chicken talk flippin birds/ Fuck y'all ketchup mustard/ I take ya pills expert" (and I wanted to show there was no carryover metaphors on that one). "I Feel Good" is straight, and "Riot" is also included.

Overall, this is even worse than I was expecting and 2Chainz is awful. This is overexposure of the worst form because in small doses he can be tolerable. What happens here is he gets overexposed and the entire album sounds like one long song. I was even disappointed by several of the hooks and a lack of energy. Beyond the ultra repetitive lyrics of the 'hair weave killer' there isn't even much for fans who like swagger rap.

Rating: 1.5/5

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