Master P: Ghetto D : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

As an entrepreneur, new orleans-based No Limit boss Master P is truly a mastermind of cross-promotion and sell-through drive. Earlier this year, he went straight to video -- and double platinum -- with his debut as a film director and producer, "I'm Bout It." Even on his own CD, Master P doesn't waste precious booklet space on something as mundane as lyrics; with "Ghetto D," you get full-page hype on four upcoming releases, including P's *next* album, "The Last Don." As a rhymer and performer, however, Master P is a journeyman stylist dealing the same low-rider beats, plastic-keyboard hooks and life-during-wartime lessons of classic Death Row -- with little variation in tone or tempo during the album's 19 tracks and not enough apocalyptic dread to go around. The best moments come when P flashes his local roots. The wise-ass, sing-along chorus of "Weed and Money" ("Y'all live for bitches 'n' blood/We live for weed and money") sounds like a hardcore spin on the old Crescent City chant "Iko Iko," and the rowdy chorales in "Let's Get 'Em" rock with the raw soul of a second-line brass band.