Wooden Leather

Nappy Roots broke new hip hop ground with their trailblazing platinum-certified 2001 debut, Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz. Now, at long last, the Kentucky-based collective return with the eagerly awaited follow-up, Wooden Leather. Includes the bonus track 'Roun' The Globe' (Collipark Remix). Atlantic. 2003.

By marrying ambitious rhymes to a series of increasingly hot beats, Nappy Roots have effectively avoided the sophomore jinx. The Kentucky-based sextet have been around the world and back by now, but continue to mine their down-home southern roots for inspiration. On the lean and mean "Lac Dogs & Hogs," they rap about the satisfying relationship between a man and his ride, while on "Roun' the Globe" they proclaim that "the whole damn world is country." There are a few missteps here, mainly in the form of two Raphael Saadiq-produced songs that leave the group sounding like guest MCs on their own album. There are a few other cuts (the generic bounce track, "Twang," for example) that seem to have been added in an effort to appease record company flacks and appeal to a wider audience, but for the most part they stick with the style that worked so well the first time out. Even with its flaws, Wooden Leather is a success. --Rebecca Levine