Entry 2... (Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry - Petey Pablo)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry - Petey Pablo
Date:	03/05/09 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of big tunes

Disadvantages: A couple of tracks let it down

"Still Writing In My Diary" came out in 2004, and was the second album from the North Carolina rapper, Petey Pablo, who is most famous for the track, "Freek-A-Leek", as well as several appearances on tunes at the time which took the Crunk sub-genre of Southern Hip Hop and fused it with R&B.

1. "Part 2" (Intro)

2. "Did You Miss Me"

To kick it all off you find him doing things big as you get him working alongside some big names to show that he has the perfect backing for this release, and so with Cash Money artist Birdman on the beats, and their in-house producer, Mannie Fresh conducting it all, the appearance by TQ on the vocals just tops it all off.

**Four Stars**

3. "Jam Y'all"

This one has him show what thee album is mainly about with him performing a track on top of some freaky beats from Lil' Jon which really have him going all-out in a display to show that this artist is suited to this kind of A-Town sound. You have him playing right up to this chant-based rap which began to re-emerge around this kind of time.

**Four Stars**

4. "Freek-A-Leek"

This was the track which most will know him for as it has him perform a track which fitted right into the times and the type of culture which was prominence then as you find him doing one which has him go for more R&B--hook-based rap which focuses all the attention upon the girls who he likes to see. It is a big one, but easy to criticise. Lil' Jon is behind it all, and he makes sure that he gives him what is needed to make an impact (as one wasn't made with his debut album).

**Five Stars**

5. "O It's On"

On this one you find him doing a track which really makes a big change to the rest of the tunes which you find on the album as it sees him perform a straight-forward Gangsta Rap track which is very much unlike the Crunk-based Gangsta work which seems to be found at every other point in this. It took a while to get into compared to the rest, but the then-G-Unit member seems to make it seem right.

**Four Stars**

6. "Let's Roc"

For the first time on the thing you find him on some beats of his own, so you are really able to find what he is about and how he expresses himself in this track. I felt as though it meant you were more able to connect with him as he breaks out into some banjo-utilising work which is Crunk-laden, and it really supports the way he chooses to do a track for his state of North Carolina.

**Four Stars**

7. "Stick 'Em Up"

I have to say that this is one of the tracks which I would liked to have enjoyed more than I could, as although it was a decent one, its not really got that much going on with it as you have him going for a track which relies a lot upon his lyrics than almost any other point in the album, and I felt that making the production take a secondary role was detrimental to it.

**Three Stars**

8. "Get Off Dis Motorcycle"

Here you have him performing with another of the few country rappers out their as Timbo's protégé (at that time Bubba Sparxxx, is given a chance to rap over this one, and it really ads to the thing as you find the two on top of typical work from Timbaland, who chooses to go for the funky percussion around this time.

9. "Break Me Off"

This is a big tune on the album, and one which really deserved to be released as a single as it find him doing a track which brings together more from his region (which is the northern part of the 'Dirty South')as you get him doing a collaboration with Missy Elliot, and having Timbaland on the beats. The production is the highlight of this piece, and with it it brings you into a more general club sound.

**Five Stars**

10. "Boy's Bathroom"

At first I wasn't too sure about this one as it didn't really have much to offer me in the way that it was made up of some very experimental beats which you won't really have heard before. It has him doing ones for the girls in the club who he asks to meet up with later on in this location. However I felt it all come together when T & J Productions chose to slow it all down and do a track which seems more suited to the Crunk times of the time.

**Four Stars**

11. "U Don't Want Dat"

This one has him getting immersed even further into the sounds of Crunk as he does a track which has him appeal to the Buck scene with a tune which has him rap to more beats from Lil' Jon and has it all based on the typical sounds of Atlanta at the time as you have him doing some fight music. It is a big one if you are into this kind of thing, and it is well-executed as it is very much of-the-time at the point when the sub-genre was just about to blow up in popularity.

**Four Stars**

12. "What You Know About It"

On this one you find him performing a track which asks what you really know about the Dirty South. Although where he was raised isn't strictly part of the area which is usually including areas part of the Deep South, its lifestyle and structure is very similar of that of Georgia, Florida and Texas, and so he included himself in all this here and tells you more about it all.

**Four Stars**

13. "I Swear"

On this one you get him doing a rather different one to a lot of the other tracks here, but I feel that it is fairly significant in the fact that it means that he is able to do something a lot more personal, yet universal as he does a track which has him show love to someone close to him (not specifically named, so can be adapted to anybody), and it makes for a nice, emotive tune from him with some thought-provoking messages attached to it.

**Four Stars**

14. "Roll Off"

I wasn't really feeling this one, and I felt as though it seemed to draw you towards the weaker material on the album as you find him performing a track which has him speaking off how he feels that he is continually having to brush off all the hate which he seems to receive on a regular basis, but the way it done really wasn't working for me, and as a result I thought that it had very little to offer me in what you find within it.

**Two Stars**

15. "Be Country"

Although this one doesn't really have much in the way of rapping, however I felt that it was such a good track without it as you have it based around a big hook about him being a country person; as opposed to how most Hip Hop acts are urban-raised. In the verses you have the raps replaced with spoken word concerning what he sees as 'country', and its differences to most other people in this game.

**Four Stars**

16. "He Spoke To Me"

I have to say that I really didn't like this one, and I felt that it was a shame to end it in such a way as he decides to just forget about all the raps and finish the album, and you have him doing a religious one. The only thing which appealed to me ways the late breakdown, but the rest isn't saying much.

**Two Stars**

I have to admit that I was surprised by how strong this album was as although the lead single and follow-up one, "Vibrate" (which features as a bonus track) were big ones, the fact that he was from North Carolina meant that I expected there to be a lot more of the Hardcore Hip Hop than this Crunk work, but he seems to balance the club music and more lyrical work well.

Summary: Petey Pablo's second album