Mutant Mindframe
While there's no debating the material success (excess?) of Southern-fried rap kingpinsCash Money Millionaires, if you dig a little deeper you'll notice that it was theGoodie Mobthat really pushed the boundaries of southern hip-hop. So then it's no surprise that founding Mob member Big Gipp's debut album is as unconventional as Andre 3000's dress code (in fact, theOutkastrapper himself was on the boards for the space-age "Boogie Man"). The fact thatMutant Mindframedoesn't list a dozen fashion labels in its lyrics already makes it groundbreaking. Gipp uses his studio time wisely, tackling a range of heavy subjects: for example, the austere "These Times" is a pensive rumination about race relations in the south while "Creeks" pays tribute to the highly publicized child murder victims of 1980s Atlanta. Gipp still has a penchant for flipping different flows. On "Steppin' Out" he smoothes out his vocal cadence (assisted byDungeon Familymember Sleepy Brown's silky crooning). In short, Gipp's solo effort is all you'd come to expect from a Dungeon Family project: witty rhymes spliced together with funk-fuelled beats.--Dalton Higgins