Country Girl

It's unclear how erstwhile Detroit resident William Green (aka, Dallas-based "WiLD 100.3 FM" DJ Billy the Kidd) was reinvented as DF Dub (a moniker derived from DFW, the FCC designation for Dallas Fort-Worth Airport). Nevertheless, Dub has debuted with Country Girl, and we're all dumber for it. He is plagued by the same problem that sunk such infamous gimmick artists as Gerardo, Skee-lo, and LFO. Essentially, a good single is all he has going for him. "Country Girl" is a hokey slice of joke-rap that tells the story of self-described "city kid" and DF Dub's contentious relationship with the titular character, "who don't understand thugging." With its Southern rock riff, cornpone gang vocals, and pitch-shifted chorus, the song is engineered silliness. It also destroys any chance of a follow-up through its sheer novelty. DF Dub must have realized this, as everything else on his debut is at least a country-mile away from the guilty-pleasure tunefulness of his single.

While DF Dub's L'il Abner-meets-LL Cool J flow dominates throughout, the record's remaining songs (all co-written, engineered, produced, and programmed by Drew Sassa and Charlie Pennachio) turf the lawns of numerous rap and pop styles with very little success. A blathering re-version of Hank Williams, Jr.'s "Family Tradition" aims for Kid Rock but fires blanks; "Mexico Rain" is a misguided, Latin-flavored duet with Samantha Cole. "Breath Easy" inexplicably channels aggro-metal, and LL might have grounds for an intellectual property lawsuit if he ever hears "Another Ex." "Drink You Away" briefly returns to the towel-slapping tone of "Country Girl," but it's too little, too late. Country Girl is a ridiculous album that will clog cut-out bins for years to come.