Rank: 2.5/5
Louisiana’s view of the South and Georgia’s view differ to a certain degree. The food is a little different, the accents vary and the music scene has plenty of parallels as well.
But when those two cultures come together, it’s a sort of family reunion. That collaboration is apparent in 2 Chainz and Lil’ Wayne’s recent release, “ColleGrove.”
Teamwork is apparent is songs like “Bounce” and “Gotta Lotta.” The latter is an early favorite as it’s backbone is a Mannie Fresh that works in favor of both artists, similar to 2 Chainz’ “Used 2.”
Unfortunately, that area of the album is where it finds its stride in the songs where you feel the artists truly fed off of each other, but neither have verses that are truly memorable for anything other than their energy.
The production is full of bangers from Metro Boomin and London on da Track to a team effort from Mike WiLL Made-It and Zaytoven. While the beats are mostly on point, the lyrics are where the album sometimes falls flat.
The biggest complaint with “ColleGrove” is that it’s not a true collaboration album. Three-fourths of the album features both artists, but there are four songs that are solely 2 Chainz. Certainly, “ColleGrove” can’t be compared to “Watch the Throne” as those sounds are completely different, but Jay-Z and Kanye West were on every track.
That’s how collaborations are supposed to work.
Still, on a nightdrive to the next party or even in the function itself, “ColleGrove” serves as a good series of cuts to bring energy to any environment.
Are some of the songs crude? Yes. Are they topically heavy? No. But that’s what is expected of this type of joint effort. This is just fun music to hold fans over until we get full length albums from both artists.