Bow Wow, Im Better Than You

Bow Wow has been putting in work recently. As he preps his album Underrated for a December release, the Ohio-bred rhymer has been regularly leaking songs, often accompanying them with a video just a few days later, and dropped Greenligh 4 in August. Now, just over a month removed from that release, Wizzle returns with Im Better Than You.

The project kicks off right, with “Heaven,” as an animated Bow opens up about issues ranging from his relationship with his father to grappling with his public perception: “Can I just make my money in peace without y’all hatin’/Why is it so important to find out who I’m dating?/So what, I smoke weed/Just please, let me be me/I’m not that nigga you read about or see on TV.”

From here, though, the YMCMB spitter falters, allowing the current of typical topics to carry him effortlessly downstream. Cuts like “I Love Pussy,” “Mary Jane,” “Lame,” and “They Aint Got Shit On Me” are as unimaginative as their titles. Sure, these are stale subjects that most rappers touch on, but Bow Wow offers a particularly stenciled rendition of these worn out topics that seem to drone on for rap listeners these days.

Noticeably shorter than G4 (18 songs), Im Better Than You (11 tracks) comes off more like a collection of leftovers from that last project than something planned to be packaged together. Though he scarcely does it here, Bow Wow has shown that he’s capable of curving the lines on the box within people have placed him, and will continue to attempt to do so with the upcoming Underrated. —Adam Fleischer