2 Chainz

2 Chainz is all hype. Me Time chronicles a rags-to-riches story, with touches of paranoia characteristic of marijuana users. It's slicker than its predecessor, in terms of production and enunciation of lyrics. "I Do It," a potential single, featuring interwoven verses from Ca$h Money family members Lil Wayne and Drake, ends with a gospel section calling for a little bit of "me time" for the song's helmer — a nice touch. Also, Mike WiLL Made It (the producer of the hour) delights, surprising listeners with a faintly recognizable diversion from his traditional trap sound; in fact, he goes backwards in time, borrowing Southside's wobbling hi-hats from Watch the Throne's bonus track, "Illest Motherfucker Alive." Even amongst all the talk of coitus and throwing it up on YouTube ("Used 2"), "first name, 2, last name, Chainz" takes the time on wax to give an official shout-out to his favourite household appliance: the stove ("Fork"). However, as charming as these progressions may sound, the heart of the project lies beneath the glitz and glamour of 2 Chainz's traveling circus act, which for the benefit of capitalist America, has made quite the stink in the papers recently. Whether it's the weight of Chrisette Michele's spoken word ode to imagination ("Black Unicorn") or the ATL wordsmith's confession ("Outroduction") that he gets profiled more now than when he was hustling, one thing's for certain: by the end of Me Time, the down-to-Earth, around-the-block-and-back 2 Chainz bores.