USA (United State of Atlanta) [Vinyl]

Atlanta's Ying Yang Twins follow up their platinum breakthrough TVT Records cd, "Me & My Brother" and its massive hit "Salt Shaker", with the album of their career, "United State Of Atlanta." Kaine and D-Roc's latest smash, "Wait (The Whisper Song)," dominated clubs, radio and TV music video countdowns throughout the spring of 2005. A second single, "Badd" featuring Mike Jones looks just as strong, even as fans can't get enough of the "Wait" remix featuring Lil Scrappy, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot and 106 & Park's Free. No longer just a Dirty South phenomenon, Ying Yang Twins have enlisted the help of guest stars Anthony Hamilton, Pitbull, Maroon 5 (yes that Maroon 5), Bun B, BG, Avant, Jacki-O and r&b singer Teedra Moses to present their most diverse and surprising album yet. Once again, DJ Smurf handles a lot of the production duties, and Lil Jon oversaw a track for his homies as well.

On an album filled with a conventional spread of crunkadelic beats and yelled out choruses so popular in the dirty south, it's unexpected that the heart of the Ying Yang Twins new album would be the downtempo salaciousness at the center: "Wait," "Pull My Hair," and "Bedroom Boom." Guaranteed to either titillate or offend (or perhaps, both), the songs find the Ying Yang Twins pioneering a whole new sub-genre, what Mike Banner has (jokingly?) called "intimate club." If you prefer your Ying Yang fix outside the sheets though, they have some vigorously upbeat tracks like "Ghetto Classics" (which samples Art of Noise's 1980s new wave hit, "Beat Box") and the infectiously bilingual "Shake" feat. Miami's Pitbull. The album even gets serious with the somber "23 Hr. Lock Down" feat. UGK's Bun B who speaks on his partner's Pimp C's incarceration, as well as the single mama's anthem, "Live Again." -- Oliver Wang