Definition of Real (Deluxe Version)

A hard charging rapper from Fort Meyers, Florida, Plies’ charismatic delivery combines the laid back sneer of Pimp C with the populist groupie baiting of Rich Boy. His second album, Definition of Real, marks a major step forward from his underground debut The Real Testament and its synth-drenched, occasionally club friendly sound is aimed squarely at mainstream success. This is not to say that Definition of Real’s glossy sound represents any kind of artistic compromise for Plies. Indeed his leering double tracked vocals sound fantastic over the glimmering, Miami Club synthesizers of “Worth Going Fed For,” which combine the malevolent tones of the Giorgio Moroder’s Scarface soundtrack with the mechanized new wave aesthetic of groups like Yaz and Duran Duran. If this meeting of styles sounds awkward on paper it's splendidly executed on tracks like “Bust It Baby” which steals Akon’s vocoder heavy sound and leavens it with Plies’ down home Florida rhymes. Pop friendly, but at the same time resolutely street oriented, Plies’ Definition of Real marks the commercial emergence of a promising new artist.