Da Unbreakables

Da Unbreakables follows the general trajectory of Three 6 Mafia's career to date, moving them further away from their horrorcore beginnings toward the hardcore rap mainstream, yet doing so without forsaking any of production duo Juicy J and DJ Paul's beatmaking genius. Much like When the Smoke Clears (2000) and Choices (2001), the Mafia's past two releases, Da Unbreakables includes a few standout tracks (namely "Testin My Gangsta," "Bin Laden," "Ridin Spinners," "Rainbow Colors," and "Dangerous Posse") amid a mass of excellently produced yet uninterestingly written ones. All the token motifs are here, and if you've been following Three 6 Mafia this far along, there will be very few surprises. To the Mafia's credit though, they are rather inventive, even when they're remaking "Tear da Club Up" for the umpteenth time (recycled as "Let's Start a Riot" this time around). And further to their credit, the beats have never sounded more impressive. ~ Jason Birchmeier