Houston rapper Trae spent a long time working on an underground level in his home town of Houston, Texas, where he became a hip-hop cult hero. Starting with the 2006 album RESTLESS, he graduated to bigger labels and more publicity, but the follow-up, 2007's LIFE GOES ON, shows that success hasn't spoiled Houston's favorite son. In keeping with the legacy Trae has already established, LIFE GOES ON is a dark, atmospheric album full of gangsta themes, where the rapping is simple and forceful but rarely over the top. Similarly, the production is minimal, but strong enough to create moody textures that are the perfect complement to Trae's bewitching and sometimes disturbing tales of thug life.