By Rohit Loomba

There will be no sirens, no televised warnings, no anticipation, and certainly no discernible impact. This, ladies and gentlemen, will be the effect of Hurricane Chris, a storm who’s destruction seems to only affect itself. With no lack of single success to hinder him, Hurricane puts out his sophomore album with potential for doing some damage on record store shelves but this storm, ultimately, puts out little more than a drizzle, if even that.

Hurricane isn’t alone on Unleashed, which boasts a solid cast of producers. What this means to listeners is that there are a few cuts on the album which make this a top-down bass-up type album. Be warned, though, that this doesn’t mean Untitled is any closer to being a good album. Whether Hurricane received production leftovers or just quickly thrown together cookie-cutter beats, it’s clear that none of the  producers went out of their way to give Hurricane anything groundbreaking. Whether it’s Don Vito’s quasi-tropical Jazzy Pha-esque effort on “Secret Lover” or the make-you-wanna-fight effort on “No Worries,” the beatmakers on Unleashed don’t do much to push Hurricane’s abilities, or lack thereof.

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While the production actually gives Unleashed somewhat of a chance, it’s Hurricane that takes the album in his self destructive whirlwind, plunging it into the Hip-Hop abyss. Hurricane’s lack of creativity is on clear display on tracks such as “Headboard” featuring Plies and Mario and “Last Call” featuring Bobby V. Generic themes and less than witty lines matched with Hurricane’s unchanging delivery leave much to be desired. Even the features on these intentionally-created-to-be-singles are unable to do much to negate Hurricane’s monotony. There is an exception to the lack on creativity, arguably, in that Hurricane did bring us “Halle Barry,” a track that has amused us all even though it has now been played beyond it being tolerable.

So what does this all mean for the 20 year old rapper? While Unleashed isn’t going to establish Hurricane as one of the best in his generation, it doesn’t completely write off the young one. Hurricane does display energy on Unleashed and with a slightly better pick at production and improves writing, Hurricane could move up a few notches although there is little chance of him living upto what he thinks he is.

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