The Bottom Line
What makes "That's Gangsta" tick is Bun B's resilience and animated sense of self-awareness.
Pros
- Bun B's banging verses
Cons
- Rote production
- Tepid chorus
Description
- First single from II Trill
- Features Sean Kingston
- Produced by JR Rotem
Guide Review - Bun B feat. Sean Kingston - "That's Gangsta"
Sean Kingston presence on "That's Gangsta" will ensure a trip to radioland and SUV stereos, no doubt. But does this combination work? I'll give it to you straight. It sounds just as terrible as it looks on paper. Kingston, his street cred and hook-crafting prowess notwithstanding, is completely out of place on "That's Gangsta." His crooning is monotonous compared to the variety of rhythm and idiosyncrasies Bun B brings to the table. (Wasn't Akon available?) But I'll be doing Bun B a disservice by focusing on Kingston, who only contributes 88 seconds to a 4-minute song.
Pimp C has always been and will always be Bun B's most compatible collaborator. Undeterred by C's death, though, Bun has no choice but to nudge the UGK mantra forward. And he does so with an ingenious, unrestricted paraphrasing of the rap theater. Bun will keep keeping it 'gangsta' even without his partner-in-rhyme.
