Artist: Plies
Album: Da REAList
Release Date: 12.16.08

Algernod Lanier Washington is back with his third album, Da REAList and it’s exactly what you’d expect: more goons, more guns and more girls. It's not difficult to understand a rapper like Plies: he’s a thug, unapologetically and with a tunneled perspective of the world. This album is for the block-rockers and trap stars who can easily identify with his “world-is-a-ghetto” philosophy. Due to his limited viewpoint, one can’t expect too much of a change from his previous album Definition of Real, but Plies’ goal is simple – he just wants to be understood and respected.

In as much as his last album was more for the ladies, this album shifts the balance of content towards his fellow goons. Still, Plies continues to put it down on this album in his no-holds-barred style with raunchy cuts like the lead single Put It On Ya, Street Light with Sean Garrett, and Want It, Need It featuring Ashanti over a sample of The Deele’s Two Occasions. He shares a bit of his soul and gets personal on Family Straight and speaks up against what he views as injustice in the criminal justice system on 2^nd Chance. His nature as a goon is evident on tracks like the confrontational Fuck U Gon’ Do Bout It and All Black. The highlight of the album is Heard of Me, on which Plies offers a better understanding of himself and reveals his thoughts on the music industry and his personal isolation from other artists.

The problem with this album is the lack of content. Plies is a rapper that offers no more than what meets the eye, so there’s nothing different here than his last album. Lyrically, Plies’ raps are very simple: there’s no intricacy, no clever metaphors, and this album requires little effort in comprehension because it offers nothing but surface-level content. The most annoying aspect of his lyrical inability is his need to change the pronunciation of words just so his juvenile rhymes will fit. For example, cognac is often shortened to the term ‘yac’ – NOT ‘YIKE’; and the word is number, not ‘nimba’.

Let’s keep it real: Plies is ignorant, nasty, violent, and quite wreckless with his words and actions, but his delivery is confident and he makes no apologies for being himself – and that’s what makes him realer than most. He refuses to give in to the demands of the industry regarding his image or his lyrics. Still, despite his demands for respect, his lyrical inability remains his biggest downfall. I’m not going to tell you this album is for everyone because it clearly is not. But if you’ve ever wanted some insight to the mind of a goon, this album is for you…

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Video: Plies - Put It On Ya

Sound-Savvy officially rates this album with 2 out of 5 platinum headphones.