For his second solo album, Atlanta producer/entrepreneur
Jermaine Dupri goes out of his way to yet again show you just how much of a self-described "baller" he is. This mentality partly informs this album's title,
Instructions, with
JD telling you what it's like at the top and how you'll never get there. As you can probably imagine, there's little modesty here and
JD could care less -- he seems to revel in his own vanity. Even if you wanted to, you'd have a hard time arguing with him: His So So Def label delivered popular albums and artists throughout the '90s --
Kris Kross,
Jagged Edge,
Usher,
Da Brat,
Lil' Bow Wow -- and he hires a star-studded roster of big-money guests for this album. Unfortunately, despite his big reputation and even bigger bank account,
JD doesn't live up to his own hype on
Instructions. His rhymes flow well but are overflowing with clichés and constant boasting. He's better at co-opting rhymes than coming up with his own. Moreover, sans the standout
Neptunes production ("Let's Talk About It" featuring
the Clipse), it also doesn't help that
JD produces nearly the entire album -- he's certainly no
Dr. Dre. And you can't help but wonder who's coming up with the beats,
JD or co-producer
Bryan-Michael Cox. Like
JD himself,
Instructions seems to rely more on its surface gloss than its substance. Even so, there are several highlights, mostly courtesy of the guests, some of the more noteworthy moments being "Ballin' Out of Control" with
Nate Dogg, "Welcome to Atlanta" with
Ludacris, and "Money, Hoes & Power" with UGK. [The clean version edits moments of profanity.] ~ Jason Birchmeier