Rasheeda
Georgia Peach

Despite numerous attempts to establish herself as a consistent presence within the crunk scene since the early ’90s, Rasheeda has had little luck making noise outside of her Atlanta stomping grounds. Her 2000 debut, Dirty South, and its 2002 follow-up, Ghetto Dream, sold just over 26,000 copies collectively. Based on the Southern belle’s overreliance on repetitive production and sex talk, her latest disc, Georgia Peach, looks likely to suffer a similar fate.

Rasheeda makes her overtly sexual message clear from the opening bars of the title track. Transforming producer Jasper Cameron’s tender medley of fluctuating synthesizers and twinkling keys into a cunnilingus tutorial, she demands that her submissive lovers, “Put ya shoulders in it, catch a neck cramp/’Cause I gotta have that tongue like a wet stamp.” The pleasure principle continues on the raunchily titled lead single “Touch Ya Toes” and the brutally honest “See Me Naked.” Rasheeda tries to reach her climax on the Akon-produced “Let It Clap,” but the hook man du jour delivers a lukewarm performance and run-of-the-mill beat that misses the G spot.

For all her sassiness, though, Rasheeda does have a softer side, as evidenced on “Who Can Love You,” a tender ode to her boo, where producer Stokley Watson injects some much-needed variety to the mix with this surprisingly smooth track of nimble banjo strums and subtle keys. Another break from the monotony comes courtesy of the new when-a-woman’s-fed-up anthem “Pack Ya Bags” featuring singer Kalenna, which producer Shiwen Shann infuses with melodic chimes.

Other than the raucous Pastor Troy collabo “Poppin’ Bottles,” listeners will be hard-pressed to find any other songs on Georgia Peach that veer off the beaten path of pussy, paper and Prada. Instead of relying on her agile flow and witty punch lines, Rasheeda falls into the same trap as so many female MCs before her and uses sex as an ineffective weapon.—JESSICA DUFRESNE