Suite 420

Album review

The AC/DC of trashy stoner rap, Devin the Dude had released a fat set of like-minded and like-sounding albums by the time he got to this 2010 release, but just like those metal gods, Devin’s redundancy is the reason fans keep coming back. They won’t be disappointed by Suite #420, which features the usual set of chilled-out weed anthems, sex jokes, and old-school R&B beats, along with those great oddball numbers the Dude uses to break each album up. Here it’s the new wave-flavored, heartbreak song “Where Ya At?” along with the crooked and appropriately titled “Funky Little Freestyle,” where Devin offers “I baffle the minds of workers at the Laundromat/They think my clothes have been worn by a walking ganja plant”. Best of the standard joints is “Still Comin’,” where producer Mirawge gives Devin a crip-walking beat over which he proves he’s still “got it” when it comes to out-sleazing the competition (including a “peach fuzz” reference that makes the phrase incorrigible). That’s what you pay for and that’s what you get in abundance, and without any guest shots from other artists. As the Dude would say, Suite #420 got it all rolled up, and you just gotta put a light on it.
© David Jeffries /TiVo