Ying Yang Twins: The Official Work

Kaine and D-Roc, better known as the Atlanta-based duo Ying Yang Twins are back with yet another cadre of crunkified stripper anthems on The Official Work. This time around the frequent Lil Jon collaborators deliver, at the risk of sounding like a political ad, more of the same.

“Don’t Trip” and “Ochee” (the latter, quite possibly spelled incorrectly, for those of you playing along at home and referencing Nas and QB Finest) are unquestionably catchy, albeit chock full of references to a gynecologist’s money-maker. However, like many of the offerings on The Official Work, they cull from the same bag of sonic tricks and cop lyrics from the Ghosts of Hip-Hop Past. For all their faults, these songs fare better than others on the mixtape. “Juaah” is an unintelligible, unimaginative stripper anthem made painful to listen to by the recurring sample of a man screaming like someone dropped a case of Crunk Juice on his foot. “Whoop Ass” employs similar theatrics but substitutes aggression for libido. Same old, same old. Then again, when Ying Yang step outside of their comfort zone of up-beat booty-shakers, the results are disastrous. While “Cheech & Chong,” an ode to everyone’s favorite smokers fares better than “The Wind,” these songs slow down the party mood and close the disc on a downer of a note

While every artist has their hallmarks, The Official Work is rife with what sounds like the same, uninspired samples that have been passed around more times than a crumpled dollar bill at a strip club. Having Lil Jon scream “Yeaa-aah!” between every other verse was novel, even catchy, back in 2002. Now it’s just another tired cliché, the type of thing that makes hip-hop fans cringe and is turning the genre into a parody of itself.