Apparently Lil’ Bow Wow is still rapping. I saw him in an ad for a terrible-looking movie about two years ago, but other than that I (like everyone else) hadn’t really heard anything about him since Like Mike came out back when he was younger than Justin Bieber sounds. But not only is Bow Wow back sans the Lil’, he also is better than you!

Or so he claims. In reality, once Lil’ Bow Wow hit puberty, he didn’t have a gimmick to fall back on and seemingly spent the subsequent years jacking the styles of his more talented piers. The best description one can give of Young 20’s Bow Wow’s style is an extremely dumbed-down version of J. Cole. That is to say, he sounds like a rapper from the South, except not the “Waka Flocka Flame-type passionately/incoherently shouting everything” kind.

If Bow Wow didn’t have the famous childhood that the listener can’t help thinking about while listening, I’m Better Than You would probably get about 30 seconds worth of speaker time in a few DJ’s headsets before being deleted and forgotten forever. However, since it’s impossible to not think about Rap’s Aaron Carter’s history, generic lines like “I know that I’m the hottest, shit, I’m just being modest” on the unintentionally-ironically-titled “They Ain’t Got Shit On Me” are a bit hilarious. Imagine telling a group of hip-hop fans, with a straight face, that you thought Lil’ Bow Wow was the hottest MC in the game. Their reaction wouldn’t be much different than from actually listening to the album.

Continuing with the humorous titles theme that runs throughout the mixtape, “Lame,” which obviously features none other than Jermaine Dupri, sounds like Soulja Boy gave Bow Wow lessons for free because it wasn’t up to his lofty standards. Okay, that’s obviously hyperbole, as Bow Wow has a much more impressive flow than Soujla Boy (backhanded compliment of the year nominee).

But the point is that the beats on this album are available for free for a reason. You almost feel bad for Bow Wow when he ponders “I don’t know how radio’s gonna play this one” on “I Love Pussy.”  Bow Wow, nobody was ever going to play this Frooty Loops-AutoTune Molotov cocktail on the radio.

I don’t want to come off overly negative. Bow Wow’s flow and voice are interesting enough to at least warrant a featured spot on a minor hit single from a more-famous artist. And if he can pick up some of J. Cole’s lyrical depth in addition to his delivery style, maybe there is hope for the man. However, the fact that this tape ends with a Chris Brown duet called “2 Young 2 Give A Fuck,” an “epic for the wrong reasons” rap battle between two people who probably should’ve stopped rapping a long time ago and probably would have a lot less problems if they did give a fuck should tell you a lot about the direction Bow Wow’s career is most likely headed.

2 / 5 bars

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.