[CD Review] Dorrough, 'Dorrough Music' (E1)

Comments (0) By BEN WESTHOFF Thursday, Aug 20 2009

Dallas’ great rap hope Dorrough walks a line somewhere between Northeastern hipster MC and snap rapper on his debut album, Dorrough Music, veering closer to the latter. He repeats catchphrases ad nauseam, especially on his Southern rap-style breakout hits “Walk That Walk” and “Ice Cream Paint Job,” both of which employ simple, hypnotizing dance hooks and lyrics a 4-year-old could easily keep up with. (“Walk That Walk” even includes a Soulja Boy-style “Yoooouuuu!”). But what keeps the album from descending into cliché is the 22-year-old’s surprisingly meaty, already mature flow.

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Rhyming in a deep voice and varying his cadence with ease, he absolutely demolishes elder Houston statesman Slim Thug on “Peace & Chain Swangin’” and is equally comfortable playing the hyperactive fool on uptempo tracks such as “Wired to the T” and the sensitive father on album highlight “Feel This Way,” which concerns his struggles to stay positive while caring for his sickly daughter. A wide array of producers fills the disc with sing-songy, nursery-rhyming beats, including the rousing second-to-last track, “A Whole Lotta,” which features children singing backup. While they probably aren’t much younger than Dorrough, compared to his self-assured, confident flow, their voices sound positively infantile.