Despite releasing his last solo album just over a year ago, the first words out of
Master P's mouth on
Ghetto Bill are, "It's the return of the living legend, man." Does
P consider a year a long time away, or is he making a comment on the streets' general indifference toward his sprawling Good Side, Bad Side release? Could be the latter since
Ghetto Bill takes none of the chances Good Side, Bad Side did, but to a fault. With plenty of classic Dirty South bangers, returning No Limit soldiers will appreciate
P's return to the gutter on
Ghetto Bill, but no new fans will be won by this overall single-minded release. Thugging, getting paper, rims, scoring with hood chicks, and all the usual topics are here in excess, something that weighs down the truly grand moments of the album. "I Need Dubs"' interpolation of
LL Cool J's "I Need Love" is inspired and the most brilliant single
P's unleashed in quite some time. The reflective and talky "Best Hustler" displays that old
Master P charm while a loopy
Myke Diesel beat makes "Shake What Ya Got" very necessary for Dirty South partying. The whimsical "Whole Hood" offers some relief from all this swagger and bragging, but it's not enough to call this a well-rounded album. Having diluted his importance with an endless parade of mediocre product, "better than usual" is the highest compliment
P's gotten from critics and message boards for quite some time. Thicker production and great singles do make
Ghetto Bill better than usual, but the wicked highlights shouldn't have to fight so hard to be found among all this painfully redundant filler. [A 'chopped and screwed' version of the album was released in 2005.] ~ David Jeffries