Pitchfork

The first release from an artist imprint should never be the second volume of anything. That's just confusing. Volume 1 of Got Purp? was actually called Got That Purp, and it was a successful DJ Drama mixtape released earlier this year that combined languorous, blissful lily pad r&b with punishing 808 body-rock. This "official" release is softer around the edges and it's a maddening exercise in label familiarization. If the artists on a comp are unknown, the format makes sense. Problem here is the crucial artists on Big Boi's Purple Ribbon are known, cult-like figures, ripe with fluid, engrossing backstories.

Purple Ribbon is the successor to Andre 3000 and Big's failed vanity label, Aquemini. Most of its artists will likely never get a whiff of a solo album, let alone another high-profile showcase. This is the way artist imprints work. Aquemini was ill-fated, releasing only Killer Mike's sincerely disruptive Monster and a disappointing LP from Slimm Calhoun before dissolving in the swirl of label politics. Now Mike, a constantly infuriated Ralph Kramden figure, Bubba Sparxxx, Organized Noize's beatific crooner Sleepy Brown, and reportedly a reformed Goodie Mob (with Cee-Lo) will headline the label's studded, studly new roster. Of course, Killer Mike's album missed its November release date, Bubba's album has been pushed back twice, and Sleepy Brown can't catch a whiff of the shine he's deserved for some time. This assemblage only goes so far in rewarding the begging and pleading of pre-Crunk Georgia hip-hop acolytes.

Antwan Patton aka Big Boi possesses arguably the sturdiest, most resolute flow of any rapper working today. He handily owns the album's lead single, "Kryptonite (I'm on It)", methodically riding the Egyptian juke joint's quivering drum track. He also embarrasses Killer Mike and members of Konkrete, a fledgling group featuring his brother James, in the process. Big is a technician, fast but smooth, never overwhelming, always relentless. He effortlessly replicated that flow at a live show earlier this year, practically sweating charisma. "Kryptonite (I'm on It)" is a space-age frozen rope, clearly and succinctly sunk into the hearts of banger-aware heads. They be on that kryptonite, but only steered by Big. It's a shame the rest isn't as transcendent.

Other highlights appear, if erratically. On "Dungeon Family Dedication" Killer Mike mourns the once-mighty collective over Outkast's "Aquemini" beat, questioning the state of biting and fighting. He asks "Is it only me or does Pharrell sometimes remind niggas of Sleepy Brown back in '93?," notes Cool Breeze created the term "Dirty South" only to have it stolen by perhaps less deserving hooligans, and grieves the absence of Witch Doctor. There's lots of r&b as well, from Sleepy Brown's luminous "Me and My Baby and My Cadillac", which sounds like so many glasses of lemonade in the desert, to Tony Tone Toni sound-alike Scar who's "U Got Me!!!" is a completely incongruous sunspot but welcome nonetheless. Less interesting cooing comes courtesy of stock Tearri-whatever songstress Janell Monae, who do-do-do-dos her way through the electro-camp of "Time Will Reveal" and "Lettin' Go".

Bubba Sparxxx, a beleaguered titan forever confounded by visions of mud fights and overalls, calmly delivers "Claremont Lounge", a sweet Georgia peach about strip clubs, laced thick with reverberating bleeps and a cameo from the dearly missed Cool Breeze. Big Boi's "808" featuring Bun B and Boy n Da Hood Big Gee, was already featured on Volume 1. It's fierce, but old news. And Goodie Mob does, in fact, reunite here. "Hold On" is classic Mob music, at once gruff and melodic over horns and snares. It's about time Cee-Lo came back, too.

Interestingly, the interludes here keep this mish-mash afloat most of the time, reminiscent of Organized Noize-helmed Outkast records of old. They meld the scattershot productions. Nostalgia is a flighty bitch, though. More than anything, Got Purp? 2 makes me sad. Sad that Society of Soul and Jim Crow never blew up. Sad that smart + throwed doesn't necessarily compute these days. Sad that Sleepy might never get another album. Sad that a guy as smart as Big Boi led with Volume 2 of a damn compilation. Quoth Killer Mike: "Man, rap need a doctor/ Which doctor?/ Bring back the Witch Doctor, feelin' me?"

 

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