The Bottom Line
The beats are hot, but the songs are empty. The record sounds great while cruising in a vehicle, but you already knew that. The thing Def Jam forgot is the most important ingredient for good music: a compelling protagonist. The Game, for instance, was an empathetic anti-hero struggling with opposing loyalties his old gang, his new homies, his newborn son, and the burden of being the saviour of a entire coast. Other coke rappers like Jay-Z exhibit a keen attention to detail and/or wordplay for days, and Clipse captivate with fatalist defiance unheard of since Mobb Deep in '95. Young Jeezy is plain and simply entertaining. Rick Ross doesn't struggle with anything. He doesn't even have a personality, it seems. Hardly a modern-day Tony Montana, let alone Macbeth.
Top Tracks from Port of Miami
- "Hustlin' Remix (feat Jay-Z and Young Jeezy)"
- "Push It"
- "Blow"
- "Boss"
