Master P Tries to Make Up for the Gaps

Master P’s career has been built on excess. On his seventh album, due in stores Tuesday, the New Orleans rap mogul’s extra baggage begins to drag him down. Although almost all of his collections have been overloaded with songs, none of them seem as stuffed as this 23-cut album.

In addition, the loss of longtime producing team Beats by the Pound and such guests as Mystikal leaves gaping sonic and lyrical holes that their replacements are unable to fill most of the time. (Although never mentioning them by name, P attacks those artists, who have left his No Limit label, on a number of the album’s interludes.)

Master P attempts to increase his lover-man stock on the collection, which is a serious misstep. It’s hard to imagine his sophomoric lyrics and awkward delivery winning over any woman not concerned about his purportedly no-limit cash flow.

But when P sticks to what he does best and showcases other talent, the results are thoroughly enjoyable. Snoop Dogg joins him on the pimped-out “Poppin’ Them Collars,” while his brother C-Murder adds his guttural growl to “Golds in They Mouth.” Master P succeeds when he delivers rowdy, chest-thumping music. He just didn’t do it enough this time.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.