B. o. B.
The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Atlantic
April 27

By Matt Kiernan

Bobby Ray, otherwise known as B.o.B., releases his breakthrough album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, a record that combines his talent for singing and rapping on pop rap tracks that feature many well-known rappers.

B.o.B. starts the album’s first track “Don’t Let Me Fall” with singing, an interesting beginning considering he decides not to overwhelm the listener with hard-hitting rapping but rather with soulful vocals.

The record’s first single, “Nothing On You,” doesn’t even seem like a rap track with the pop/rock-like vocals of Bruno Mars singing, “Beautiful girls all over the world/ I could be chasing but my time would be wasted/ they got nothin’ on you baby.” This is until Ray opens into his rapping that has a style similar to Andre 3000 of Outkast.

“Bet I,” which features T.I. and Playboy Tre, brings out Ray’s roots in the dirty south, having forceful vocals that are quickly paced.

The track “Magic” brings together rock ‘n roll and rap with the featuring of Rivers Cuomo of Weezer. The song has Ray’s wacky rapping style during verses, with Ray stepping aside to let Cuomo sing the catchy chorus of, “Magic, magic, magic/ I’ve got the magic in me.”

Most of the track “Lovelier Than You” isn’t even rapping but acoustic guitar playing and singing, with the song ending with a part for rapping. The singing contains the very romantic lyrics of, “If I could rewind both the hands of time/ still I would never find a lovelier design than you.”

B.O.B. asserts his position in the world of rap with Bobby Ray, bringing new things to the table of rap by pulling together multiple genres that mix pieces of rap and singing. It gives reason for why so many popular rappers are being drawn to the artist who should be producing very intriguing albums for years to come.