Single Rating: 9.5/10
B.o.B had an excellent run in the last two years, debuting his mainstream career with his #1 hit single “Nothin’ On You”, where after that he gained a lot of attention and some very high expectations, and honestly he lived up to those expectations with his album “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray”. In that album, he proved that he can be really diverse with his music, switching up to many different styles on the album from alternative hip-hop to many sub-genres of pop music and rock music, ever since then he’s been having excellent verses on features, and it kept looking like his wide-range career was a winner. Since now his career’s chopped up and reviewed a bit, can he keep that hot streak going with the track “Strange Clouds”, which features Lil Wayne and is officially the first single of his sophomore album, “Strange Clouds”?
Strange Clouds was moved to a very different direction and style when comparing it to a lot of his features, his work on his debut album, and even the music on his pre-album mixtapes. Strange Clouds as a song was more directed to the club-based hip-hop fans, it had a club inspired concept, as well as club inspired and club themed production to fit with the concept of the track, all in the goal of making a club track that would appeal to hip-hop fans, which is something that I think kept failing time and time again.
Strange Clouds was all about what its name brought. It was about smoking weed, which is usually considered as an overused concept for a track, but in my opinion, an overused concept can be easily forgotten about if the lyrical style and structure was strong, and honestly, in this track, it was really something, the song was full of really strong and clever punchlines, metaphors, rhymes and to tie all those lines together Strange Clouds had a really strong flow to go with the lyrical skill and effort put into this track.
B.o.B had two verses on this track, which were the first and the last, and both verses brought some great and memorable lines. I think he had some of the best lines in his career in this track to be honest. He had some really clever lines from begging to end, some of his best lines on the track include “Imma hit 'em with that pipe, Call that Nancy Carigan”, “Stay on the greenest green, call us vegetarians”, “I guess I must invest in the proper for of protection, and “keep your nourishment first and your mind on my lyrics, ‘caus what you’re hoping to accomplish, I already did it”. B.o.B’s knife-like lines where all easily complimented and cushioned ny his really powerful flow, which was one big reason why his verses where really memorable, and a reason why this song was really memorable.
Lil Wayne made an appearance on the track, he had one verse, and honestly after his lackluster lyrical performance in his “Tha Carter IV” album, he really needed to get his lines right on this track, so did he do it? Well, yes and no, Wayne did have some great, but not memorable lines on his verse like “these rappers washed up, spin cycle, rinse you” and “I die in that pussy, yeah I belly flop, I jackknife and shit”, but at the same time though he had some Carter IV styled punchlines which really brought his verse down, lines like “Smoking on that strong, that Arnold Shwartzinager” or “you hot as an igloo”, both those lines, and a few more took me away from his strong flow and the song’s general groove, making me thinking ‘what?’, and just really broke the feeling of the track a bit, honestly that was the issue with his verse, while he had some strong lines and a great flow, he somehow had to jam in some bad lines to distract the listener from everything positive his verse had.
As for the hook, I can easily without a doubt say that I loved it, it was catchy, it had a sing-a-long feeling, it was clever, it flowed perfectly and it just felt like it was put in at the right moments. The hook was golden on this track, I wouldn’t say that it was the biggest part of the song, but it was certainly something to really listen to and was a perfect way to divide the three verses this song had.
Now for what bagged and packaged the track completely: the production. The beat felt like it was something really built for clubs, it had a drinking/dancing feeling, the base was strong and took over most of the beat, the beat transitions perfectly between the hook and the verses, and above all that, comparing to many club inspired beat, and even hip-hop beats in general, this beat really felt like something unused and unique, experimental and different, and honestly that was one of the song’s production’s one of the very best, if not the best aspect of this excellent track.
B.o.B really provided something different yet not too experimental for the first single of his sophomore album. Strange Clouds was a flat out entertaining track, it’s production was straight up club but at the same time completely rap, it’s lyrics where nothing special concept wise but looking at the lyrical structure the song was pure magic, and above all that B.o.B’s and Wayne’s flows where both really strong, both where really balanced and both contributed with the beat perfectly. The only issue Strange Clouds had was a few lines on Wayne’s verse, but just a few lines though, but it wasn’t that big of a deal after getting passed them. Overall Strange Clouds was a perfect way to open the “Strange Clouds” album, it showed a lot of diversity, it was an appealing track to both fans of the rap world, who are the mainstream fans and the underground rap, it made a different club feel than other tracks, and more important succeeded on doing that unlike many other rap songs that failed at that part, “Strange Clouds” was just a monster, and it showed that B.o.B’s up and running, better than ever, and that he is ready again to rock my headphones.
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