Anyone familiar with No Limit Records will know what to expect from
the Gambino Family's debut album
Ghetto Organized. They'll even know the cover, thanks to the months and months of advertising in the liner notes of various No Limit releases. That's the
Master P game plan -- familiarity breeds cash. Such consistent plugging guarantees that the core No Limit audience will try the new albums, which is about the only way to sell an album as stultifying as
the Gambino Family's
Ghetto Organized. Like any release on No Limit,
Ghetto Organized is filled with cheaply made, bass-heavy jams, and each track features a plethora of guest artists. This time around, however, all the guests feel like camouflage, an effort to disguise the truly unremarkable
Gambino Family. There's little or no imagination to the lyrical ideas on the record, nor does the crew flash much verbal dexterity -- all of which only emphasizes the lameness of the music. No Limit records are formulaic, but when the formula works, they're effective. When the formula fails, the results are mind-numbingly dull. That's the case here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine