Trick Daddy:
Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets

Release Date: 01 November 2004

Reviewed By: Anders Kindberg

1. F**king Around Intro

2. F**king Around

3. Lets Go

4. Gangsta Livin

5. These Are The Daze

6. I Wanna Sang

7. The Childrens Song

8. You Neva Know

9. Sugar

10. Skit

11. Menage A Trios

12. J.O.D.D

13. 4Eva

14. I Cry

15. Thugs About

16. Ain't A Thug

17. Down Wit Da South

50 Cent - The Massacre
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Crunk is hot. That’s the realisation more and more people are coming to, especially in the U.S. Since this heavy-hitting, take-no-prisoners music genre made its grand entrance on the mainstream, many fans have been eagerly awaiting the return of crunk veteran Trick Daddy.

Two years after since his last album, the Miami native now returns with his sixth release ‘Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets.’ For his fans, it’s definitely been worth the wait.
The question is, will this album appeal to wider audiences than the hardcore Dirty South crunk following? The answer, I think, is probably not, although there are some potential hits on there.

‘Let’s Go’, the first single, is a guitar-driven banger which has Lil’ Jon production written all over it. It features a sample from heavy metal godfather Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” and has a very rock-and-roll feel to it. Twista makes a guest appearance, while Lil’ Jon can, as always, be heard going “Yeaaahhh!” in the background. The concept seems to work though, and the heavy bass can make anyone feel like joining a mosh pit.

Another stand-out track is ‘Sugar (Gimme Some)’, which features Ludacris and Cee-Lo. This looks set to be the second single, following the recent release of the video version containing Lil’ Kim. For me, this is one of the best tracks on the album, with its country acoustic guitar backing and its Dirty South declaration of love for sweet foods through thought-provoking lyrics like: “Can I call you Caramel?/ Cuz I'm bout to go coo-coo to taste your Coco Puffs/ One bowl ought to fill me up/ But that milk gotta be cold enough.”

In addition to these two, ‘Thug Matrimony’ has a number of other collaborations with big names on the crunk scene. T.I. can be heard on ‘F**in’ Around’, a “get out my way, don’t mess with me” type of track; Khia appears on ‘J.O.D.D’ (Jump On Da D*ck), and Jazze Pha comes through on ‘Ménage A Trois’, an ode to three-way love making. Trina and the Ying Yang Twins are on there as well, lending a hand on the last track ‘Down Wit Da South.’ To me, these collaborations are a few too many. Trick Daddy appears alone on only five out of 17 tracks, which in my opinion leaves him looking a bit anonymous on his own project. Being a great name in crunk, Trick Daddy is able to work with some big artists, but I think he would have been better off removing a few of the collaborations from the album.

Listening to ‘Thug Matrimony’, it also seems to me that Trick Daddy has somewhat of an identity problem. Some of the down-tempo tracks, such as ‘I Wanna Sang’, and ‘The Children’s Song’, are with their simple, childish style meant to be inspirational anthems on the Nas ‘I Can’ tip. Lyrics like “You can be anything that you wanna be/ Play sports or make music – just put your mind to it” and “Since memories are all we have/ Don’t you agree that all children deserve to laugh?” certainly point in that direction.

For me, though, it seems a bit out of place, especially when coupled with the rest of the album mostly dealing with Trick Daddy’s love for guns, drugs and lots of sex: “The AK go chop, chop, chop, chop/ The SK go fire, fire, fire, fire” and “I’m disrespectful, ill-mannered and quite feisty/ That’s why I f*ck n*ggas and slap b*tches never lightly.” The two messages seem a bit misplaced on the album, and kind of leaves me wondering what Trick is really all about.

According to Trick Daddy’s record company, ‘Thug Matrimony’ has “more bang than an ass full of haemorrhoids.” To me, the bang seems to fizz out when the crunk-style tracks become a bit repetitive towards the end of the album. Although ‘Thug Matrimony’ has some variation with more laid back tracks than seen in other crunk releases, I think this is first and foremost an album for the fans. With the crunk revolution hitting the UK though, there is a good chance we will be hearing some moreTrick Daddy tunes on the radio in months to come.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Top 3 tracks:

14. I Cry
09. Sugar (Gimme Some)
02. F*ckin’ Around

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