The Recession

Young Jeezy "fucks with John McCain," but he's an ardent Barack Obama supporter. This confused stance makes more sense after listening to the Atlanta MC's third LP, billed as a response to the country's current economic troubles. But really, The Recession relates to the recession about as much as McCain relates to pacifist immigrants; there's no mention of subprime mortgages or the credit crunch throughout its 18 tracks. Jeezy, like McCain and Obama, is a quality politician who knows how to appeal to his base. So instead of offering Economist-style predictions and Dowd -y editorials, Jeezy gives us a Jeezy record: synthetic beats that come down like anvils, ad libs by the freight load, and all-or-nothing Bald Bull punchlines. Like the world's most famous 72-year-old Republican, the rapper is trying to tweak a working formula to his advantage. If there's any sort of recession happening on the album, it's a mental one-- for the first time, Jeezy questions the world around him instead of simply reveling in it by any means necessary. And, like a certain history-making Harvard Law School alum, Jeezy is searching for change from the inside out while trying to maintain a superhero guise.

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