Hustlenomics

A big improvement over his debut, Hustlenomics finds a looser Yung Joc letting more of his personality through. Added to his already proven ability to deliver infectious hooks and convincing swagger, it's a pretty deadly combination and best experienced on the excellent single "Coffee Shop," a playful number that combines hard thugging and coffee culture in ways never thought possible. Almost as good is "BYOB," a robotic and minimal triumph for both Joc and producers the Neptunes, who are also in charge of the very good "Hell Yeah" with Joc's label boss Diddy as guest star. Featuring a cool loop from the Stylistics' "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and Joc holding his own with heavyweights Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross, "Brand New" is definitely a keeper, and both "Bottle Poppin'" and "Chevy Smile" have good-time choruses that stick in the head. The hustlenomics theme of the album and the strange, almost Parliament-Funkadelic character Pak Man both show up repeatedly, making this full-length flow splendidly, even with a couple redundant tracks. Sounding a lot less like T.I. and a lot more like his likable self, Hustlenomics is a step in the right direction for Joc, but more importantly to the listener, it's always entertaining and quite impressive in parts.