Stoned Immaculate

Combine rapper Curren$y's stoned, slow flow with his general preference for light, loopy beats and you've got an “acquired taste” indeed, plus there's the full-on embracing of weed and head shop culture topped by a prolific nature that's been averaging right around two mixtapes and two commercial releases per year. Still, when it comes to quality control, Curren$y's been closer to his inspiration Lil Wayne than his other inspiration, Master P, and this well-designed multi-producer, multi-guest-shot album deserves a special place in the man's discography, being the first “official official” after some one-producer efforts and conceptual (Weekend at Burnie's was all '80s from its cover art to its beats) street releases. Cue the thing up and the rapper welcomes everyone by putting his crossover up front, offering the lazy but feelin' it, “What It Look Like” as an easy entryway into an album that's always in his cushy, kushy comfort zone, but always hospitable as well, with a hook or a Wale-type guest shot to keep things interesting. The top-notch “Privacy Glass” explains the rules with “Kush clouds, sunshine, good times, inspire these dope rhymes,” while the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced smoothie called “Take You There” proves Curren$y doesn't suffer from couch lock, taking the listener -- really, the lady listener -- on a extravagant journey in the manner of Ludacris' “Pimpin' All Over the World.” Fellow weed Don Wiz Khalifa turns up on “No Squares,” yet this clear-headed and convincing “get paper” cut drops lines like “Rather have my feet hurtin', than my pocket/I chase that my money down, like it said somethin' 'bout my mama” and suddenly, it all feels like the “official official”. The big finish rolls up with Pharrell in classic Neptunes mode (“Chasin' Papers”), Estelle on a cut so sweet it could be on a Tyler Perry soundtrack (“That's the Thing”), and Daz Dillinger on the mike and behind the boards for that old-school menace (“Fast Cars Faster Women”). If “Jet Life” with Wiz and Big K.R.I.T. feels like a woozy finish for such an ambitious album, the familiar can explain it's a lifestyle anthem doubling as an acknowledgment of returning passengers. That's the whole enchilada, and even if the terminally blazed Curren$y is still best approached with the munchies, this one doesn't leave you feeling hungry or stuffed, just fully satisfied. ~ David Jeffries