Skateboards 2 Scrapers EP

Album Review

The Pack (aka "the Wolfpack), broke into 2006 with their track "Vans," right as Hyphy was beginning to take off past the Bay Area and into greater hip-hop-conscious America. Signed by Too Short, the group's debut EP, Skateboards 2 Scrapers, sets to push them even further into the mainstream. With its sparse, sound-effect driven, slowed-down Hyphy beats, the EP may appeal to some, but if it was the quirkiness of the Pack's first song — and what made it so fun — that listeners are looking for, they'll be left a little disappointed with Skateboards 2 Scrapers. Yes, Young L's sparse, sound-effect-filled beats continue to dominate the record, but the whimsy and youthfulness of "Vans" is discarded on the rest of the EP in favor of money and sex, with a strong emphasis on the latter. The four members seem eager to prove their validity by mentioning being just like "grown men," as well as their various sexual exploits and preferences. In fact, besides "I'm Shinin'," which is about the amount of diamonds they own and wear, and "Vans," which doesn't wear that well, being it's actually nothing more than an extended, and very catchy, commercial for the shoe ("since 1966 Vans has set a trend/I got a blue pair, yeah, in a size 10"), the other songs on the album are all about getting with girls. It's unfortunately predictable. Of course, there's a certain amount of bravado that exists within all rappers, but with the Pack, it just seems as if they're bragging because that's what they're supposed to do, because that makes them seem legitimate. "Vans" makes a great single, and a great way to introduce yourselves, but you've got to follow up with something substantive (which doesn't have to mean serious), and unfortunately there's nothing on Skateboards 2 Scrapers, Rovi