Fresh for the end of the millennium,
Goodie Mob cut loose and put the bounce back into Southern rap with their third album. As listeners might gather from the title,
World Party is just that -- a party record, with fewer message tracks than were found on
Goodie Mob's first two albums. In their place are hands-in-the-air party songs like the title track, "Get Rich to This," "Chain Swang," and the great
TLC collaboration "What It Ain't (Ghetto Enuff)." The production, mostly by
Organized Noize or Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie (aka
the Madd Rapper), isn't quite as strong as it has been in the past, but
Goodie Mob's laid-back rhymes and vocal choruses make up for the deficit. [
World Party is also available in a clean version.] ~ John Bush