BG Livin’ Legend (KOCH) Rating: NN Rating: NN
How quickly hiphop fortunes change! Just two years ago, BG, aka Baby Gangsta, was the toast of hiphop’s vulgar rich elite, the man who coined the phrase “bling bling” to reflect the shine of his ice and brought the whole concept of garish, Bentley-driving excess to the Cash Money label. A dispute with his crew and a crack addiction later, though, BG sounds like a humbled man. He tries to regain past glories on Livin’ Legend, rapping gamely about guns, girls and 4-inch-high stacks of green, but what made BG’s boasts palatable in the past — Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh’s backing tracks — are replaced by dreary synth bleats. The most entertaining track is Fuck U, where BG systematically runs through the names of three dozen of his former friends, each punctuated by a crisp “Fuck you.”