Audio By Carbonatix
With 2 days left in our spring campaign, we have a new $10,000 goal!
New Times members have already contributed more than $7,500 - can you help us hit our new goal and keep New Times free and in print every week? If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today.
Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets is an appropriate title for Trick Daddy’s sixth album; it’s not only a nod to the Miami thug’s recent marriage, but to the album’s focus on love and sex. On “4 Eva,” Trick pledges, “I have never been a man with manners/But I think I can handle being a little romantic.” Then there’s “Thugs About,” where he and Dirtbag spit real talk while producers Cool and Dre harmonize a charming, gentlemanly chorus. More surprisingly, Trick even dedicates three tracks to the kids, offering “These Are The Daze” and “I Wanna Sing” with a sincerity that proves disarming.
Trick’s sweet pop numbers, however, contrast sharply with his raw strip-club cuts (“Ménage A Trois” and “Jump On Da Dick”). Confusing matters further are Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets‘ numerous, booming club and gangsta tracks, including “Let’s Go,” on which newcomers Unusual Suspects loop a dangerously infectious snippet of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”; and “Down Wit Da South,” itself a mix of Con Funk Shun’s “Fun” and Midnight Star’s “No Parking (On the Dance Floor).”
Thematically, Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets is pulled in so many different directions that it struggles to build a compelling narrative. It would be a great album if the songs were sequenced better or, better yet, the strip-club joints were jettisoned all together. Despite these flaws, Trick Daddy has produced a very good album, one that’s packed with a preponderance of hits among its seventeen cuts.
