If there’s one thing to be certain about Detroit native Trick Trick, he is not one to be trifled with. Known more for his run-ins with fellow rappers Trick Daddy [click to read] and Yung Berg than his rhyming, Trick Trick isn’t generally as adept on the mic as some of his Midwest peers. However, you’ll be hard-pressed to find and emcee these days with as much intensity and gritty, violent subject matter and the résumé to back it up. But does that necessarily translate into the best music? Trick Trick‘s appropriately-titled The Villain aims to answer that question.
After an eerie intro, Trick Trick eases into his role as the villain on the track “Trick Trick.” With a clapping, anthemic beat, the Detroit emcee comes out guns-a-blazing, as expected. The adrenaline continues on “U Can Get Fucked Up,” but the gun talk gets a little tired by the time “Who Want It” [click to listen] rolls in. The song has a momentary reprieve in the way of an effortless flow supplied by Detroit’s most famous son, Eminem, but in the end it still falls flat.
The Villain continues to plod along with uninspired, similar-sounding production and rhymes until hitting a bit of a bright spot with [click to read] “Let’s Work,” which features one of Buck‘s best verses in some time. The album’s stock continues to rise with “Hold On,” which provides a slinky beat by Dr. Dre. Over the good doctor’s guitar strums, Trick Trick provides more of his more lyrical offerings. The impressive guest list continues as Lil Jon and Ice Cube [click to read] each contribute on “Let It Fly.” The song is a bit of a letdown, as it seems both Jon and Cube phoned in the beat and verse, respectively; still, it’s a much-needed change-up in sound.
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Trick Trick (somewhat surprisingly) rises to the challenge of keeping up with Royce Da 5’9″ as he brings it back to Detroit on “All Around the World”: “It’s the same old sound/Everybody is a killer, man I’ma tell the truth/Most of ya’ll ain’t killers till yo’ ass in the booth/Take a look in the mirror and be honest with yourself/Got gwap on records off another nigga’s wealth.” This is followed by the highlight of The Villain: the absolutely incredible tribute to Run-DMC, “2getha 4 Eva,” as Trick, Esham, Kid Rock, and the late Proof nail the ’80s sound with the boom bap and record cuts.
The Villain‘s main problem is quality control. Several of the tracks could’ve been easily cut out, and would not have been missed – particularly in the beginning of the album. The first four songs are essentially interchangeable, which drags the album down from the start. A stretch of solid features and production, as well as more inspired efforts from Trick Trick drag this album out of the trenches of mediocrity into a generally enjoyable album. Moments like “2gether 4 Ever” are truly brilliant, and Trick Trick proves on songs like “Crazy” that he can truly be compared with Detroit’s elite on the mic – so why allow average songs like “My City” and “A MF Pimp” tarnish a genuinely good effort? Whatever the case may be, The Villain is a solid release; however, had some of the fat been trimmed from the track list, it could have been great.
