Maino

If we can take away one thing from Maino's Day After Tomorrow, it's that federal prison time does not guarantee a hard hip-hop album. Maino went to jail for ten years on drug-related kidnapping charges and now he comes out with a sophomore LP that is more a product of Atlantic's A&R department than anything traditionally Bed-Stuy. Day After Tomorrow is the same old song: a young black man quits pushing dope and begins pushing records. He makes a smash single, which for Maino was "Hi Hater"; he starts messing with groupies, popping bottles at clubs, waking up in bed with four or five women. In not so many words, the hustler-turned-rapper finds success, but he doesn't find happiness. That is the story Maino tells on Day After Tomorrow. The production is handled mostly by in-house producers Blast Off Productions and Mista Raja. Maino raps with little emphasis or charisma over beats that are forgotten before they are heard. On "Messiah," Maino goes so far as to take a subtle shot at Kanye, rapping, "too many characters, the game is like a T.V. show, I can't believe I'm seeing rappers wearing women clothes." To jog your memory, Kanye donned a Celine, printed, women's shirt at the 2011 Coachella Festival. Even Em, the king of controversy, knew better than to diss Kanye at his lowest. Take away Maino's gruff rhymes of money, hoes, clothes and industry woes and you are left with Lupe's Lasers album ― another Atlantic offering. The only difference is Maino knows how to keep his mouth shut when someone cuts him a deal.