On “Let Me In,” the first single from Nashville rapperYoung Buck’s debut album, concealed weapons, underagedrinking, and brazen flossing are the order of the day. Foes areshouted down; diamond-encrusted burners are waved. EvenBuck’s G-Unit boss, 50 Cent, goes back to the well, intoning“Go shorty / We back up in this bitch again.” As thebeat—part J-Kwon’s “Tipsy,” part theClipse’s “Grindin’”—thumps along,you’re thinking, Meet the new boss, same as the oldboss. Then, out of nowhere, Buck exclaims, “Mydaddy’s a dope fiend / And I don’t really miss him /Ain’t seen him in ten years!” Then, as punctuation, hedrops in a barbaric yawp of an ad-lib: “Fuckhim!”

 

On “Let Me In,” the first single from Nashville rapperYoung Buck’s debut album, concealed weapons, underagedrinking, and brazen flossing are the order of the day. Foes areshouted down; diamond-encrusted burners are waved. EvenBuck’s G-Unit boss, 50 Cent, goes back to the well, intoning“Go shorty / We back up in this bitch again.” As thebeat—part J-Kwon’s “Tipsy,” part theClipse’s “Grindin’”—thumps along,you’re thinking, Meet the new boss, same as the oldboss. Then, out of nowhere, Buck exclaims, “Mydaddy’s a dope fiend / And I don’t really miss him /Ain’t seen him in ten years!” Then, as punctuation, hedrops in a barbaric yawp of an ad-lib: “Fuckhim!”

Buck, born David Brown, possesses a delivery that’s a voodoostew of Tupac and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and that unhingedgrowl powers Straight Outta Cashville. Scarily single-mindedin its depiction of a violent man coming of age, it’s cutfrom the same cloth as go-for-broke debuts like Nas’Illmatic, Biggie’s Ready to Die, andJay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt—records by rappers whodidn’t expect a second chance. Cashville isn’tas powerful as those classics; for one thing, Buck can’tresist hack lines like “I’m throwing up this Hennessy /And blowin’ up my enemies.” But it’s still one ofthe most uncompromising mainstream rap discs in recentmemory—track after track of empty shells, chalk outlines,wasted nights, and wasted youth.

On “Black Gloves,” Buck snaps, “I’m‘raw’ spelled backwards, that’s what I’mgonna bring,” as his voice rises to a boil. “Welcome tothe South” pairs him with Lil’ Flip and the reliablybonkers David Banner over producer Red Spyda’sVangelis-south-of-the-Mason-Dixon keyboards. But he sounds mostassured on “Bang Bang.” Producer Needlez, who obviouslyenjoyed Kill Bill: Volume I a great deal, loops the reverbedguitar line from the Nancy Sinatra tune that opened that movie,along with Sinatra’s coo, as a black-velvet backdrop forBuck’s morbid meditations (“It’s in us all / Youjust gotta find it and use it”). It’s a quietsong—too quiet, as if all hell’s about to break loose.And it’s a fitting sound for an album about dying with yourboots on.