O.N.I.F.C. (Best Buy Exclusive)＜限定盤＞

ヒップホップ界を席巻するピッツバーグの若獅子、ウィズ･カリファ。全米で最も注目を集める若手MCのセカンド・アルバム。こちらはボーナス・トラック3曲を収録したBEST BUY限定盤。

Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa graduated to superstar status with his breakout 2011 album Rolling Papers. That album and its ubiquitous single "Black & Yellow" took Wiz from mixtapes to the mainstream, and the tattoo-covered stoner MC found himself on magazine covers, on year-end Top Ten lists, and even starring alongside Snoop Dogg in a pretty forgettable hip-hop buddy comedy flick. Within the first few minutes of follow-up album O.N.I.F.C., several things are made forcefully clear: Wiz likes to smoke weed, he has more money now than he knows what to do with, and he's fairly confident that his make-it-look-easy pop-rap style has pretty much changed the game for good. A host of top-dollar producers, MCs, and vocalists are on board to back him up, too, with on-point production from ID Labs, Chris "Drumma Boy" Gholson, and Pharrell and guest spots by everyone from 2 Chainz to Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J. Production team Stargate returns to cultivate the huge beat of leadoff single "Work Hard, Play Hard," a minimal banger that attempts to revisit the fire of "Black & Yellow." Equally interesting beats come in the lovestruck stereo-panned snares and crystalline R&B hooks of "Got Everything" and the Dilla-esque staggered funk of "No Limit." The watery beat of "Remember You" swims in a druggy haze with Khalifa throwing down delay-effected verses in between whimpering choruses by the Weeknd, and album closer "Medicated" sounds focused and engaged. ~ Fred Thomas

いまやシーンのAクラス・リストにその名を連ねるウィズ・カリファ。〈ファーストクラス機内で唯一の黒人客〉というタイトル通り、成り上がりのヒップホップ・ドリームを体現するニュー・アルバムが到着。夏に行われたフェスではフル・バンドのセットにスタンドマイクでラップを披露していたのも印象的で、ミュージシャンとしてあきらかに成長した姿に、本作に向けた気合を感じたのだった。ただ、毛皮を纏っていても、本来のユルめなストーナー節は健在。加えて、ファレル・ウィリアムズやベニー・ブランコら外部のプロデューサーと多く組むことでフロウも自在に変化し、ラッパーとしてのスキルも上がっているのは確か。成功を経たいまの素直な気持ちをラップした内容はどれも生々しくてエキサイティングだ。
bounce (C)渡辺志保