ARTIST: B.o.B
ALBUM: Strange Clouds
LABEL: Grand Hustle
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2012
A New Adventure
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Strange Clouds, the second album by Grand Hustle rapper B.o.B., is meant to showcase the rapper’s unique skills to appeal to different fan bases. The “Airplanes” and “Nothing on You” hit maker has already struck gold again on Strange Clouds with the hit single “So Good.” B.o.B. obviously has a knack for delivering pop songs intended to rule the airwaves, but he got his start as an underground rapper making mix tapes. Many original fans of B.o.B. were not sure how to feel about the pop turn on the rapper’s debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray. Some thought he was selling out in order to appeal to a broader audience. This album, B.o.B. would like to show fans he is more than just a bubblegum pop factory, and that he also maintains the eclecticism that makes him who he is.
“Bombs Away,” Strange Clouds opening track, is a definite step in that direction. The beat is more hip-hop while the chorus is a pop singer’s dream. B.o.B.’s clever use of lyrics like, “Creation needs a devil and the devil needs an advocate/and I ain’t too big into duality, but you don’t know the half of me” start the album off with a duality of its own that will continue throughout the album. The addition of Morgan Freeman at the end definitely makes this one of the more creative tracks on the album. B.o.B. has also set the stage for the album’s direction with the two singles already released from the album, the aforementioned “So Good” and the title track “Strange Clouds.” “So Good” is a very pop-oriented single in the vein of “Airplanes” and “Nothing on You” that you probably have heard a million times by now. It is played in commercials and all over the radio. This catchy tune will appeal to newer fans of B.o.B. and help to guarantee he is commercially successful again with this album. “Strange Clouds,” the album’s other current single, features hip-hop superstar Lil Wayne and is a more traditional hip-hop track. This bass-heavy banger finds the two southern MCs trading witty lyrics as B.o.B. attempts to build a bridge to his past with a track that even his most ardent of critics should enjoy.
On almost every song on the album one can just about immediately tell what audience B.o.B. had in mind while working on Strange Clouds. Songs like “So Hard to Breathe” and “Both of Us” were clearly cut with those who prefer pop in mind. The beats on these songs are lighter pop-oriented tracks with easy to sing-along choruses that the radio will gobble up. Other tracks like “Arena” feat. Chris Brown & T.I. and the conquering sounding “Play for Keeps” are obviously meant to appease the hip-hop heads.
“Where Are You,” the last track on the regular version of Strange Clouds, finds B.o.B. facing the same kind of demons faced by his rap brethren Drake and Kanye West (amongst others): the pitfalls of fame and balancing who you used to be with who you are becoming. The first verse asks, “Whatever happened to Bobby Ray, he used to be here for us/Then he got famous and left all of his fans in the dust/We never hear from you, you’re constantly changing/And your relatives always miss you at family occasions.” The second verse addresses B.o.B. and says, “With your shades on, we can’t even see you/ Is that what happens, when somebody makes it off of rapping/They taste the fame and change likes it just automatic/Where’s the integrity? You on that other shit/You don’t even sound the same, I liked your other shit.” Although he hasn’t fully figured out the answers to either of those issues, B.o.B. acknowledges he has changed some in the third verse by rapping, “I watched my whole life change in a couple of years/Who woulda ever thought I woulda caught the world by the ears/I swear, this shit is so much bigger than I had figured.”
Strange Clouds is an artistic-inspired effort from an individual who is obviously still coming into his own. B.o.B. is not your typical rapper and has never tried to come off as such (even when he was Bobby Ray he was always diverse). Strange Clouds leans more toward the pop side of the spectrum but there is enough of a hip-hop slant to it that will allow the album to appeal to hip-hop heads as well. Strange Clouds is a creative, fun album that has something for everyone and may help narrow the stylistic gap between Bobby Ray and B.o.B.