Mutant Mindframe

Album review

A couple years after Goodie Mob called it quits, Big Gipp followed the lead of fellow group member Cee-Lo by releasing a weird solo debut album, Mutant Mindframe. Unlike Cee-Lo, however, Gipp stayed true to his rap beginnings; in fact, putting aside his mutant mindframe and OutKast-like quirks, the Atlanta rapper embraces the sound of his hometown, collaborating with numerous fellow ATL rappers -- including Sleepy Brown, Slimm Calhoun, Andre 3000, Khujo, and Witchdoctor -- over the course of 17 tracks. There's an abundance of variety here, from cosmic future funk ("Boogie Man") and retro-pimpin' steppers cuts ("Steppin Out") to crunkest-of-the-crunk 'bow-throwers ("You Buck, We Buck") and occasional instances of good old-fashioned Southern rap ("Make It Happen"). By and large, though, the good old-fashioned Southern rap is hard to come by on Mutant Mindframe. For instance, the album opener ("Make the People Say") and the Eightball collabo ("All Over Your Body") embody the essence of Southern rap, yet Gipp steers the tracks into unexplored territory, infusing otherwise standard material with interesting quirks. It's because of this that Mutant Mindframe is a much more interesting album than you might presume. It's certainly a stretch from what Gipp had done with Goodie Mob, and while it's not quite as out there as what Cee-Lo and OutKast were doing in the early 2000s, Mutant Mindframe is a daring effort regardless, and one that is generally more successful than it is ill-conceived.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo