Mr. Collipark explains it all in the "Intro." The first half of
Chemically Imbalanced is for the longtime
Ying Yang Twins fans and goes for that strip club thump. The second half "makes it a little musical for y'all" with the help of
Wyclef and Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, the duo who brought you the
Shakira hit "Hips Don't Lie." In other words, this is effectively two EPs stuck together, an album that takes a massive turn in the middle, and a release that tries to please everyone, including
the Ying Yangs themselves. Listening to a track as rich and
Sly Stone-flavored as "Family," it's easy to hear that
the Twins are anxious to explore new avenues, but they're just as enthusiastic when delivering the first half's stream of club tracks, of which the infectious "Jigglin" is the best, although "1st Booty on Duty" deserves special mention for title alone. The tricky beat on "Leave" and sexy single "Dangerous" are also noteworthy, and if it sounds like the second half of the album is the winner, it's not, since its tracks would make more sense on a real, flowing full-length, as the half-and-half format actually serves the simple, party-minded first half better. Making this frustrating release even more so is the "One Mo for the Road" skit, which infers the two are in for an extended break and all this growth won't be panning out anytime soon. To their credit, no one could have mixed these two sides of
the Ying Yangs in a sensible way -- at least not with this selection -- and the only way the "Intro" could have warned the listener any better is if it had been titled "Warning." While
Chemically Imbalanced can't decide if it's a home for the
Wyclef singles, a haven for the experiments, or a plain old "return to form," the highlights are worth hearing and justify this scattershot placeholder's existence. [The album was also released in an edited version.] ~ David Jeffries