All four volumes of “Revenue Retrievin'” once again make that abundantly clear. E-40 is one of those who command respect, with his originality, talent, longevity, etc. like E-40 giving up game on tracks like “ Concrete.”Ī lot of rappers demand respect. Still not all hope is lost when you have an O.G. Earl Stevens applies an everyman approach throughout “Revenue Retrievin’,” and specifically “Graveyard Shift.” In tune with the overall sound, there is also a cautionary tone to a lot of the songs here. But he doesn’t content himself with rehashing his success story. Even the more melodic offerings tend to carry a somber mood, such as the touching jail theme “Trapped,” or “Serious,” produced by and featuring (an untuned) T-Pain, which chronicles the journey from born loser to self-made man, undoubtely inspired by E-40’s own biography. Other mortuary tunes include “Back & Forth” with its menacing mechanical bassline, the live-wired, slow-paced Jelly Roll production “Fried,” the appropriately abrasive “The Streets Don’t Love Nobody,” and last but not least the epic DJ Toure-produced “Don’t Try This at Home” that really seems to add additional fuel to 40’s fire.
Although sneaking up stealthily, “43” is a suprisingly harmonious experience, not just by way of its jazzy bassline and horn flares, but also because E-40 and B-Legit stand as one of rap music’s most outstanding complementary tag teams.
“Takin ‘Em Back” is that old school sound Too $hort might want to visit again some time. The mood turns even darker on “My Lil Grimey Nigga,” a chilling description of the younger generation that has taken over the streets where producer Droop-E lets a hollow bassline hover above the track and Stresmatic delivers a suitably sinister chorus.īosko lays down an ominous score for “Spooky,” while 40 provides the personel (“Hard drugs, young knuckleheads and thugs / fake identification, gettin’ kicked out of clubs”), painting an “eerie and grim” picture of the Bay Area. On the title track (the only one in the series) dominant drums and strategically placed keys create a stark atmosphere. Opener “Barbarian” puts any rapper likening himself to a gorilla to shame, 40 declaring, “The Bay made me a beast” over an old-time Hollywood gumshoe groove updated with nuff knock. Overlooking all 78 tracks (no intros, no skits), “Night” probably has the most duds, while “Graveyard” is the one most true to its title, with major parts of the album engulfed in a dark ambiance.
Was it worth it? Did it amount to more than four interchangeable discs filled with the type of songs the artist already recorded many times over?Ĭomparing the albums among themselves, it may seem like the only difference between last year’s “Day” and “Night Shift” and this year’s “Overtime” and “Graveyard Shift” is that the latter each comprise one song more. But even when one is inclined to agree that if one rapper is entitled to put out that much product within a year’s span it is E-40 with his level of excellence, there’s no way around a critical assessment of such a hustle turned bustle.
#E 40 REVENUE RETRIEVIN DAY SHIFT SERIES#
The “Revenue Retrievin” series of 20 are sure to get a special mention in future career write-ups of E-40, noted as a testament to the artist’s legendary ‘grit and grind’ even in an era of declining sales.
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