“I’m the best of both worlds, heart of the South, voice of the ghetto.” - Smitty

Those are big words coming from a rather lesser-known emcee slowly emerging out of the streets of Miami, Florida. Some may have a slight recollection of Smitty from last summer's luke-warm hit, “Diamonds on My Neck.” Or perhaps the few people that still read liner notes would recognize Smitty as the man responsible for writing Diddy and Nelly's hit “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” along with that B2K single “Bump, Bump, Bump.” Still prepping his major label album, “Life of a Troubled Child” on J Records, Smitty is releasing an indy album in order to garnish a buzz via Counterflow Distribution Group.

With the help of a dope production line-up consisting of Kanye West, 9th Wonder, Jazze Pha, Hi-Tek and more, Smitty is prepared to show the world his ability to come with variety and appeal for each spectrum of Hip Hop. And I must say, having Kanye West, Scarface, Jae Millz, John Legend, amongst others as a list of guest spots won't hurt his chances of doing just that. Whether it be the street banger for the hood; the insightful rhymes for the backpack listener; or even the radio-tailored single, Smitty is ready.

Teaming up with Jae Millz on “Ghetto Boy,” Smitty shows off his ability to rhyme hard, packing a verse full of hard hitting punch lines and gritty street talk. The Donny Hathaway sampled track also allows Millz to put on a stunning performance, proving Millz naysayers wrong who think he doesn’t merit lime light. “Lemme Know” has Smitty speaking on his resident area of MIA, over a Jazze Pha-produced, Lil Jon-esque Crunk-style instrumental. Whereas the Akon-assisted “I Wonder” provides the listener with a nice break from the hard hitting, trunk rattling beats that are littered throughout the album. It's just a shame Smitty turned the smooth riding track into an average run of the mill song by doing his best Ice Cube rendition and failing horribly. Smitty's lack of lyricism and inability to convince his audience that he is better than any other man leaves “Pop Quiz” in the trash bin category. Now it's not always the case that Smitty ruins a dope instrumental. Take “It's Alright.” Smitty lays down his heart over a xylophone-filled 9th Wonder beat. It's hard not to relate and feel for a guy when he spits lyrics like these: "....will I make it through the gates/ As I wait, only God knows what I'm about/ Out on parole, so I'm back at my momma's house/ This shit is old/ My car broke down, money ain't right/ My momma screamin at me, plus I'm on my third strike/ ... Man heaven ain't a mile away/ Cause if it was, cuz, fuck it, I'd die today"

It's hard to say whether Smitty will be someone special in the game yet. If you eliminate the guest spots from the platinum-status artists along with the all-star production, you're left with what seems like a challenging attempt by J Records to push Smitty out into the world. The record is far from amazing and Smitty definitely needs to improve his lyricism. Overall, however, the pre-album serves its purpose. Bring on the Life of a Troubled Child.