Tha Thug Show

It’s a bit rough around the edges, but Slim Thug’s third effort is solid overall, rolling over the listener with the same stone-cold Texas rhymes and heavy Houston beats that ruled his first two releases. With his writing ramped up just a little bit, lack of growth may be an issue for his detractors, but fans will find that being stuck in this comfort zone is right where they want to be, too — plus it’s not like you’d ask Thug or his like-minded guests Z-Ro or Devin the Dude to travel down any new avenues in a Cee-Lo Green style. He’s been here before, and if you have the taste for it, booming tunes like the opening title track and the straight-up “Gangsta” (so clean, it’s “giving haters the blues”) are always welcome. More radio-friendly numbers like the B.o.B feature “So High” and the Rick Ross showdown “How We Do It” are necessary to round out the album, and help separate the release from his down-and-dirty mixtapes, which can be excessively “no crossover”-minded. Still, the promised Lil Wayne collaboration is missing and anyone who watched the Internet reality series the album is named after knows Slim turned this one in way past the deadline, so don’t be surprised if the overall flow seems a shade bumpy. Rearrange at will and then marvel at this Thug’s outstanding track record.