B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Atlanta MC Bobby Ray's debut album can be filed next to those by Wale and Kid Cudi: He's a left-of-center rap hero whose skills lag somewhere several miles south of his hipster bona fides. The guest list is formidably diverse: Janelle Monáe, T.I., Eminem, Rivers Cuomo, Paramore's Hayley Williams. The beats are quirky and peppy. (Check out Dr. Luke's power-pop-rap hybrid, "Magic.") B.o.B's got a Georgia drawl and tasty flow, but his witless boasts — "I sing just like Aretha/So respect me like I'm Caesar"; "When I'm up on the stage, they sangin'/But as soon as I step off, they hatin'" — leave you wondering what on Earth the bloggers are fussing about.