Greatest Hits With My Buds

In 2006, Sahaj Ticotin, leader/founder of the alternative rock/post-grunge band Ra, theorized that rappers had become "the new hair bands." Ticotin's point was that when hair bands disappeared from MTV thanks to the grunge explosion of the early '90s, rock in general took a very introspective turn — and hip-hop, according to Ticotin, offered the sort of hedonistic, decadent, raucous fun that hair bands had offered in the '80s. When countless post-grunge bands were giving their listeners angst-ridden introspection, bad boys like Ludacris, Mystikal, and Lil Jon were celebrating the pleasures of decadent hedonism. And the type of "hip-hop as wild, over-the-top party music" aesthetic that Ticotin talked about isn't hard to find on Greatest Hits with My Buds, a best-of collection that Suburban Noize assembled in 2010. A few of the tracks have a serious tone and touch on social issues, but more often than not, Potluck favor wild, trashy party music — and one of their favorite subjects is marijuana. They also rap about sex, but they spend more time rapping about marijuana (which is the pot in Potluck) and often brag about being from Humboldt County (an area of California infamous for growing huge amounts of potent marijuana). One thing Potluck don't do on Greatest Hits is venture into gangsta rap; for all their wildness, Potluck never come across as particularly thuggish or threatening. It should be noted that while Greatest Hits is a two-CD set, only the first CD actually functions as a best-of; the second CD is a bonus disc offering material that is enjoyable but less essential than the tunes on disc one. The first disc is the main reason to acquire Greatest Hits with My Buds, which is the most logical album to acquire if a novice is making his/her first Potluck purchase.