The former is invigorating, but the latter, enervating, represents the record’s tone far more accurately.
“Nothing On You,” the record’s lead single, is already number one on the Hot 100, and “Airplanes,” its hastily-released follow-up, is creeping in on the top 10. is going to make a fortune off this album. It’s futile to lament the many missed opportunities here, considering that B.o.B. He presumably smokes less weed, which makes for a more consistent and coherent album than Cudi’s meandering Man On the Moon but it also means that The Adventures of Bobby Ray is less weird, less specific, but unfortunately, no less repetitive and numbing. has far more in common with the similarly mediocre Kid Cudi, namely a pre-disposition toward self-pity and Vampire Weekend samples. has staked out emo rap - no longer the domain of Rhymesayers - as his own, and stands to reap the commercial rewards.ĭespite some vocal similarities to Andre 3000, B.o.B. At least Bobby Ray followed his convictions to their logical conclusion enlisting Hayley Williams of Paramore for two songs, B.o.B. There’s a refreshing lack of braggadocio, misogyny, and aggression, but the problem is that there’s also hardly any fun to be had here. largely sticks to three subjects: that fame is alienating, that anonymity was alienating, and how all other girls are inferior to his girl.
Perhaps a callback to Slick Rick, the title seems out of place on a record where nothing exciting or adventurous is recounted and only a narrow patch of thematic ground is covered. The title of B.o.B.’s debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, is at least an exaggeration, if not an outright misnomer.