B.o.B has been busy. He’s had his hands full addressing his name change from B.o.B to Bobby Ray, an aggressive tour schedule and with the release of his latest mixtape, B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray. With news breaking Wednesday that he’ll headline the URB stage at the A3C Hip Hop Festival in Atlanta, Bobby Ray followed up with a new music video: “Put me On.”
Released yesterday, the mixtape B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray follows a format similar to T.I.’s T.I. vs. T.I.P. Pure coincidence? Not hardly. Atlanta’s own Bobby Ray (also known as B.o.B) happens to be signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label.
Rather than T.I.’s face-off between his inner thug and industry personas, Bob struggles with his rapper (B.o.B) vs. inner rocker of sorts (Bobby Ray).
Here’s what Complex had to say about B.o.B’s contribution to the mixtape:
The project is evenly divided between B.o.B and Bobby Ray songs with coinciding interludes to explain each side of the rapper’s personality. Things start off strongly with “One”, the mixtape’s first full song. We’re immediately thrust into the middle of B.o.B’s firmly positive agenda and remain there for the tape’s duration. Often times, rappers with the same focus make the mistake of coming across as preachy, but B.o.B puts his personal flaws on display as well. The young emcee arguably bests his mentor, T.I., on the standout “I’m That Nigga.”
And on Bobby Ray:
The Bobby Ray portion of the mixtape is a bit harder to warm up to because of its experimental nature, but still impressive. It seems like Bobby Ray has a stronger personal connection to these songs too, self-producing all but one. We definitely dig the left-field approach, but as much as he hates the comparisons, Bobby does occasionally come across like a The Love Below-era Andre 3000. It’s cool though. It’s easy to hear the kid honing his own unique sound and we like what we’ve heard so far.
B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray mixtape listening party. Free. 8-10 p.m. Wed., June 24. Strivers Row, 744 N. Highland Ave. 678-973-0045. See flier.
