Savage Life

Baton Rouge native Webster "Webbie" Gradney, Jr.'s brash and street-smart style was influenced by the early No Limit and Cash Money releases that were creeping out of nearby New Orleans and the classic West Coast sound of Snoop Dogg and Eazy-E. Seeing that you didn't have to be from the East or West Coast to make your mark in hip-hop, Webbie became serious about the rhymes he had been messing around with since he was five. He was signed to Pimp C's Trill Entertainment before he got his driver's license and recorded two albums for the label: 2003's Ghetto Stories and 2004's Gangsta Muzik, both with fellow Baton Rouge rapper Lil Boosie. Webbie's full-length Savage Life hit the streets in June of 2005. Savage Life offers guest performances from Trina, Bun B, Cash Money's B.G., Big Head, and Mannie Fresh of Cash Money/Big Tymers fame.

If 50 Cent is Playboy, Webbie is Hustler and parents should dig through junior's closet and remove any of his material immediately. If you haven't figured it out already, Savage Life isn't the deepest album and Webbie's rhymes aren't cerebral, but rarely are such degenerate, horny roughhousers able to collect so many distasteful but catchy party tracks on one album. It's obvious this is this a male thug's album. It's this misogynist, hellbound-for-destruction thug's fiery combination of volatility and recklessness that makes the album tracks fascinating like a traffic accident, while the singles are sleazy party tunes straight from the gutter. The creeping Gutta Bitch being the exception, the highlights on the album display just how few new ideas Webbie has – they're titled Like That, Give Me That, and I Got That – but as with any 2 Live Crew album, you don't come here for innovation. The beats are simple and stark, which is a smart move since Webbie is wordy and always jabbering.

The young rapper's debut album is a mixture of crunk-style production, gangsta themes, and Dirty South attitude. The complex verbal dance of some rappers is not for Webbie, though. Instead he keeps his flow straightforward and his wordplay concise. Savage Life's subject matter will be familiar to anyone who's listened to Trillville or Lil Jon; such perennial themes as women, street life, and the pursuit of the gangsta lifestyle dominate the album. Though there are guest artists aplenty the mixture of sparse beats and Webbie's singleminded, insistent rapping style are what made Savage Life a success and a representative snapshot of the crunk sound circa 2005. It's overstuffed for sure and best taken in halves, but the hooks are strong and if Webbie's style isn't offensive to you from the get-go, you'll be surprised at how well and how long he can hold your attention.