Beast

Sold as a protégé of the uncool, not hip, and still selling-like-hotcakes Soulja Boy, Atlanta rapper V.I.C. shares the same love of party rap as his ringtone king mentor, and there's no doubt his single "Get Silly" is perfect for any intoxicated Friday night. Produced by Soulja Boy, the cut takes full advantage of V.I.C.'s brash sense of humor, his overabundant amount of swagger, and his vocal device of dropping the last note of any given verse, pitching it way down with that smarmy tone of self-satisfaction. Adding the Batman theme to this formula makes "We Ridin'" with Hurricane Chris a good time, and the hyperactive bongos that producer Mr. Collipark lays on "Wobble" are irresistible, but all the boasting and smugness become tiresome as the album drags on for a horribly overstuffed 19 tracks. Soulja Boy may be the one drawing the ire of the hardcore set, but it's V.I.C. who seems the bigger threat, posturing and declaring himself harder than thou. Beast sounds as if it were designed to be somewhere between pop-rap and the more provocative style of Webbie. Given the right artist, "tween-hop" might just work when it comes to albums, but in the hands of the one-trick pony V.I.C., it's more a singles genre.