B.B. from The A

Artist: Big Boi
Song: “Shutterbugg”
Rating: B

Outkast was, in my belief, the best hip-hop group of the last decade. Andre 3000 and Big Boi were the perfect duo, the pop and the bass. They played pop, but their roots were in the rhyme.

All good things must come to an end, but I was pretty excited when it became clear that Big Boi was prepping a solo debut. Now that it's out, I'm sad to report that it's merely decent. I've always been a fan of the heavy rhythm of Big Boi's voice, but I suppose it wore on me ten tracks in. Blame it on the short-attention span, but I'm in need of someone new.

“Shutterbugg” is similarly good, but not great. It ties together the hip-hop video staples (curvy and pretty young things, the posse shot) with sharp, creative visuals: a puppet band, a flipbook head and the biggest red cup pyramid anyone's ever seen.

Oh, and a little product placement at the very beginning. That seems unprecedented to me. Has it always that obvious?