Checkmate
A teenage heroin addict, B.G.'s always had stories to tell, dating back  to his first album,True Story, which he  recorded when he was just 11. Nevertheless, B.G. ascended to fame with"Bling Bling,"a love song to  ostentation that epitomized his label, Cash Money Records, at its peak:  unchecked excess in lieu of dark thug anthems. Those were the good times, and  there was nary a hater in sight. Apparently, times are getting harder 'round  Cash Money Boulevard, as reflected by B.G.'s latest,Checkmate. Gone are  the epic tales of jewelry and cars, the promises of helicopter rides and  fellatio. As Cash Money president Bryan "Baby" Williams says on the album's  intro: "This lil dude rap about sunflower seeds, and somebody got killed; he  rapped about stunting, and somebody got killed; he rapped about babymamas, and  somebody got killed." That said, here the Baby Gangsta gets back to doing the  killing himself. On "Gun Slinger," over a wicked pan-flute arrangement, he  promises to "bust hollows like Cupid bust arrows," leaving "your family  grieving, saying 'Amazing Grace'." He's no kinder on "What's That Smell,"  warning, "When it come down to you and me, it won't be me." On "Bounce with Me,"  he even indicts the bling economy: "Tie your family up / They all on the floor,  nigga / By all means, whatever it takes to get green, I do, 'cause I wanna  bling." Even when he was celebrating excess, B.G. conveyed arrogance with an  easy, slurred drawl. Back to recounting tales of the danger zone, his tenor  evokes even more gravitas, which results in a set of songs that are compelling  and occasionally downright scary. In Cash Money parlance, this album is a risk,  and completely forsakes the formula that's earned the label hit upon hit. But perhaps  the clique is prescient, merely the first to recognize that hip-hop's Platinum  Age is coming to a close, and that the streets are as real as ever.--Jon  Caramanica