This Shit is Radioactive (Album Review) (Back to the forum)

Radioactive by Yelawolf

Album Review
By 6xPlatinum

Released 21 November 2011
57:22 in length

1.) Radioactive Introduction —— 4.5/5
2.) Get Away —— 3.5/5
3.) Let’s Roll —— 3.25/5
4.) Hard White —— 3.5/5
5.) Growin’ Up in the Gutter —— 4/5
6.) Throw it Up —— 4.5/5
7.) Good Girl —— 3.75/5
8.) Made in the U.S.A. —— 3.75/5
9.) Animal —— 4.25/5
10.) The Hardest Love Song in the World —— 3.5/5
11.) Write Your Name —— 4.5/5
12.) Everything I Love the Most —— 4/5
13.) Radio —— 2/5
14.) Slumerican Shitizen —— 3.25/5
15.) The Last Song —— 4/5

Radioactive Introduction is fucking awesome. Not too many rap albums go in this type of direction. I’ve heard a few metal albums start with nationwide emergency warnings, but this is the best I’ve ever heard done. I had just assumed that Yela would come in on the next track and leave this one on its own. But he didn’t! He came in, and it might not be his fastest or hardest flow, it does the trick. The background tone is stellar. The song, mashed with his flow is just spooky. I absolutely love it.

Mystikal I’ve never really liked (funny, though!) and Shawty Fatt I’ve never even heard of. Both of which, Yela got for Get Away, the album’s second track. Yela’s verse is solid, he starts off going pretty hard, leading into a pretty average bridge/hook. Shawty Fatt sounded like some random ass southern rapper (sorry if I offend), and Mystikal’s verse is everything you’d expect from a Mystikal verse. The production and Yela’s verse were the high points. Drinking, smoking and trailer parks – I’m in for a treat.

Third track is Let’s Roll with a hook via Kid Rock, the southern rap/rocker turned country singer from Detroit… Needless to say, I don’t really like Kid Rock and the hook really isn’t impressive, it’s actually corny. Yela however, does a good job on his verses. The third one in particular, “Used to keep a .22 in a shoebox/Now I bang Beretta’s, she’s 22 and I keep her in a tube top.” Production is relatively average when compared to the higher points on the album – still, by no means is it bad. Take off dumbshit Kid Rock and I would have liked it more.

Seeing Lil Jon as the feature for Hard White, I assumed it would have been a heavy synth beat with a lot of screaming. I only got a small dose of the latter. The beat is actually cool as fuck. Yela really does go in on this track, as far as I’m concerned. I really liked his flow. Where the song lacks is… You guessed it; Lil Jon. The guy is good for big club choruses and shouting, which is exactly what he tries. Lil Jon is for the club, this song is not. So putting him on the track may have been one of the album’s very few missteps. And the good thing about it is, the production and Yela’s verses are so good, Lil Jon can be put in the back seat.

Mother. Fucking. Production. Growin’ Up in the Gutter gives off the same vibe as the album’s intro gave and shit do I love it. That Inception-esque beat does wonders with Yela’s flow. Rittz, another feature artist I’ve never heard of, did a solid job working with the beat. Where the song lacks, which seems to be a trend at this point, is the hook. It’s not that bad, but it’s not that good. Somewhere towards the last few playthroughs of the album, the hook started growing on me more and more. I upped the songs overall value because I know if I gave this shit more time, I’d like it even more. Very cool track. WillPower, who seemed to do a majority of the album’s production did a fucking awesome job here.

Throw it Up has features by everyone’s personal favorite, Eminem and the forgotten Three-6-Mafia vet Gangsta Boo. The beat wasn’t as good as some of the other shit that we’ve heard by this point on the album. And seeing that it was produced by WillPower (and Eminem), I was a slight bit disappointed, just because the Intro and Growin’ Up in the Gutter were vicious. All three artists have some damn good verses. Gangsta Boo sounded more threatening than Yela and Em delivered a badass verse. The end of this song has some comical value to it. And the fucking duck quack is my phone’s alarm, so it definitely fucked me on the first go’round.

Finally, a shout out to Game (haha). Good Girl has one of the album’s better done hooks, delivered by Poo Bear. The production is a little… Happy? … when compared to the rest of the album. It may not fit, but the song is still a good listen. Yela here explains that he’s surprised that he can treat women badly and still be in there lives, and credits this to his fame; which is a very believable topic. In the end, this is one of the more forgettable tracks on the album. It’s counterpart from Game and Drake had a more lasting effect.

Despite repping the Chi, I’ve got some pretty southern roots myself, so Yela’s verses seemed spot on, very heartfelt. I really enjoyed all of them. The production is a little bland compared to the rest of the album. Made in the U.S.A. is a good track, it’s not extremely lyrical, but it’s as real as it gets. But, per usual, I didn’t like the hook. Which was sang by Priscilla Renea. With the simple production, this track following Good Girl put me in a bit of a lull for the middle of the album.

And we’re back, Animal. The beginning of the track gives off an old school/southern vibe – which is really fucking cool. And then the hook comes in and the production takes a hard hitting turn. The hook is a tad cheesy, but much better than most of rest of the album. With the song’s title and the way the hook is sang, I would have assumed it was done by Ke$ha, but instead, Yela recruited the unknown Fefe Dobson. Yela’s verses are a little more light hearted here, with a fun up and down flow. The beat is cool, especially the dance-ridden sections on the hook. The only downside is that Ke$ha isn’t the feature. I love her.

He usually doesn’t do this… The Hardest Love Song in the World. Some southern feel to it, some slowed down flows by Yela and a hook that goes uncredited but clearly isn’t Yela… (Jason Boyd, according to Wikipedia). Regardless of who is and isn’t credited, the hook is average, which for Radioactive means good. Yela’s lyrics are again, a little comical with the sexual innuendos and references (Ozzy biting a bats head). While it’s not a bad song, it’s not great either. A good effort, but ultimately, it’s another one of the forgettable tracks. A true fan would enjoy it the most because it strays away from typical Yela songs.

Write Your Name is definitely a more poppy sounding song, but I really dig it. It’s by far the best hook on the entire album, given to us by Mona Mona. The story Yela paints throughout the song really is gorgeous. For a rapper that isn’t usually emotional, he does a magnificent job with this track. His flow on this track is a little off of his usual track, but its still really good. This might be one of my favorite tracks off of the whole album. Production from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League is awesome.

Twelfth track is Everything I Love the Most is a track that has grown on me after repeated listens. It’s got an awesome old school/southern vibe to it, enhanced especially by the loose, low toned guitar. I think this is the only hook on the entire album that was sang directly by Yela, and it really is a step above the rest of what Radioactive has to offer, except for, of course, “Write Your Name”. The ode to every southern rapper with the lines, “Smokin’ out, throwin’ up/Keep a fifth up in my truck” was another really nice touch. Fun stuff; and I don’t normally like fun stuff.

Radio. Yeah, yeah, the topics at hand aren’t bad – really. I hate YouTube. But there is definitely a better way of going about attacking things. I hate this fucking hook, the weird, super cheesy production (fuck off Jim Jonsin) isn’t much better, either. The only reason it sort of fits is the guitar and the obvious Lynyrd Skynyrd “Free Bird” attempt. The fact that Yela hates some of the same shit that I hate brings my rating of this song up, but other than that – this is the album’s true low point. Why did he leave this shit on here?

Some pretty cool guitar work, especially for a rapper, on the production for Slumerican Shitizen. I really dug the way the beat was laid out and Yela does a good job of staying true to his trailer trash persona. So far, everything’s going good. Is it me or does Killa Mike always sound like goddamned Ice Cube? Anyways, his verse isn’t as good as Yela’s, but it does the song justice and it doesn’t spoil anything. The downside? You guessed it: the hook. The term “slumerican shitizen” is just so… Cliché? It’s so expected. It’s garbage. It’s very childish. Shitizen? Come on. Not all of your listeners are fourteen.

We made it to The Last Song! Obviously one of Yelawolf’s very few emotional songs. He does a wonderful job on it, too. Giving us a quick look into his life, the slow beat (via WillPower) is great – with the piano. One thing that I couldn’t help but notice is the similarities between this and Big K.R.I.T.’s “Free My Soul.” The soft piano and the melody mainly. Which I absolutely loved. I really do think that if I had never heard “Free My Soul” that this track would have been a lot better for me. I just can’t really see past the similarities enough to love this track. Nonetheless, this is a wonderful way to end the album and it truly is a good Yelawolf track.

What Yelawolf did on Radioactive is turn me into a fan. I didn’t dislike him prior to this release, that’s not the case at all, I just hadn’t really checked him out. Before this review I had heard maybe three Yelawolf songs. So I went into this review with a pretty unbiased opinion. A co-sign from Slim Shady and a review from The Source resulting in a 4.5/5 is certainly something worth checking out. Compiled with really good production, some damn good flows and some respectable features, Radioactive really is the complete package. A few of the parts were a little on the cheesy side. I know that a lot of people like to knock his voice for being a little higher pitched (nasally), but as a new listener, I seriously got over it after the first song. What I would have liked more is if Yela decided to give the whole album that same vibe as the album’s extra creepy intro. Instead we got parts of that meshed with some serious southern roots with all of the guitar parts. The biggest drawback on this album is the hooks. The majority of them are below average, average at best with the exception of “Write Your Name”, “Good Girl”, and “Everything I Love the Most”. Still though, Radioactive is a good album. It may not be my favorite, but I have no problem recommending it to anyone.

Final ratings: 56.25/75 = 75% =

3.75/5

Thought this was a cool picture worth sharing. This was my first playthrough.

Nice review, as usual. But what about the bonus tracks?

I found the first 7 songs to be pretty strong, but after that it became very mediocre and a bit forced to me.
I really enjoyed hearing Mystikal again.

goddamn is this a lenient review.

I guess I should stop sleeping on Yelawolf now and finally go out and listen to him

im glad someone appreciated write your name, I fucking love that shit.

I didn’t get the bonus tracks, sorry. I can look into ‘em if you’d like. Thanks to everyone showing the love. Please, please, please comment with your opinion. It makes it so much better when people can contribute.

When I first listened to the whole album, I liked it. It’s good music to listen to while you’re riding in the car. The hooks aren’t that great but they’re easy to sing along to. They get stuck in your head. his verses are great and the features are mostly unknown or not widely known people minus Eminem and the unnecessary Lil Jon which I think is good for a first album, seeing that you wouldn’t want someone outshining you on your own shit. Overall, I like Radioactive and the whole album stays on my IPod and phone.

Haha, anyone else?

Good review, the album was pretty good but I expected a little better. I think his best songs were Made in the USA, Im sorry daddy, and Write your name.

Pretty good review for a good album. My friends told me that Yelawolf was trash, so I never listened to him before this, but he definitely changed my mind. His flow is actually sick and his lyrics are pretty good too. Plus he always keeps it real and is kinda unique being a poor white guy from Alabama. I actually like him a lot better than Mike Miller, because he doesn’t give off the vibe of “white-boy rapper”. I also like that he’s completely different than his “mentor” Eminem. He’s actually a pretty good artist and not just another gimmicky white rapper. I would probably give Radioactive a 4/5.

Would also like to add,

I probably would have rated Growing up in the gutter a bit higher, the beat and the darkness of the song just gives me chills. Hard White may have been better without Lil Jon, because he really doesn’t do anything for the song.

I would agree with the above and give the album overall a 4/5 myself

top 5 for me are

Write your name — Incredibly uplifting song, and Mona Mona’s voice is gorgeous.

Throw it up — Pretty much just rap, didn’t care too much for the production, but I loved the verses.

Growing up in the gutter — As I said above, gives me chills, and the style was very unexpected.

Animal — All around great song.

Last Song — Very deep, kinda hits home for me as well.

I was really surprised with all of the featured artists on the album, and it definitely broadened my horizon. Not seeing some extremely mainstream r&b / pop singer doing the choruses or raps (besides Lil Jon, well he really doesn’t do anything anyways) was a breath of fresh air.

But a great review by 6xPlatinum, been trying to get this album around to everyone I know for the past couple of weeks.

The lyrics weren’t there

You’ve never heard of White Jesus Ritz? Saw what?! haha. Youtube his song “White Jesus” or another Yelawolf & Rittz song called “Fulla Shit” produced by Big K.R.I.T.

It’s riding music. Although, the more times I played it through, the more I did not like it. I probably like just under half of the songs. Get Away, The Last Song, Growin' Up in The Gutter are a few. Yela sounds good on all the beats. Rides them fairly well. The hooks are weak and sugary at times. Kind of a let down overall after multiple listens, although I still fucks with Yela. I think he will put out some good stuff this next year.

It sounds awesome in my brother’s subwoofers.

cmon dude “radio” wasn’t that bad. the song obviously should have been a little faster as it drags on like Southern drawl for sure. but there are some really good parts first verse is cool and “lets talk about broke as a joke” always gets me

You must have a version that excludes the hook.

“Internet killed the raaaaadio staaar”

I’m not surprised that “Radio” is getting mixed reviews from the members here. I mean everyone here has a rap-focused mindset. Looking at the bigger picture, this is Yela’s major label debut. There’s going to a lot of listeners of the album who aren’t traditional hip-hop heads or don’t listen to a whole lot of rap. Looking back on my lifetime, I had gotten The Eminem Show & Get Rich Or Die Trying in elementary school, YEARS before I actually became a rap listener. It was a cultural thing.

Music is a marking of time. Let’s look at some historical context When the original Buggles song “Video Killed The Radio Star” came out in 1979, music videos were a new. In fact, the that song was THE FIRST music video on MTV. Back then, radio was the norm and what people were used to for music. Video was seen as this new medium that was essentially polluting the way in which people view music, hence the title of the song.

Yelawolf took the essence of that song and brought it to the 21st century for a whole new generation of MUSIC listeners, not just rap fans. Most of us take video for granted, its what we grew up on. Some of us grew up watching TRL on MTV and watching movies on VHS, so we can’t relate as strongly to the cultural impact of the original song. Youtube is now the pollutant for OUR generation regarding the internet/music and the hook of the song captures that.

Did you read my review? More specifically the part where I reviewed “Radio” as an individual track, you would have known that I actually agree with Yela’s message on said song. But the message doesn’t outweigh the song’s dynamic.

I’m not supposed to look at a rap album with a rap-focused mindset? Come on now. I don’t want any rap artist capturing the essence of any pop song. That’s when mistakes get made. Check out other songs that Jim Jonsin has produced, “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne, “Just a Dream” by Nelly, “Hotel Room Service” by Pitbull… That is definitely not a sound that I want to hear when I’m listening to something with the genre labeled Hip Hop or Rap.

@6xPlatinum, No where in my post did I try to imply that you didn’t agree with the message song. If taken that way, my bad.

Moving on…
It’s a difference of opinions in the interpretation of the song. Personally, I think thats the beauty of music. One song can stem two meanings for two different people. We can agree to disagree. In the OP you frame the song as an “attack”. While the song may evoke that feeling for you, I get a feeling of nostalgia from the track. With the Free Bird-like guitar that mentioned, I don’t feel an overwhelming vibe of hostility or attack as much as it is just a reminiscion of the good old days of music and radio. He certainly scored points in my book for his Red Hot Chili Peppers reference (also just personal thought/opinion)

In regards to the other comment about the mindset, I see what you’re saying about that sound not being something to hear on a rap album. I feel that the notion can be taken beyond the scope of Yelawolf or those other songs/artists listed and may say something itself about the [rap] music industry as a whole. What’s not always apparent on the surface is the involvement of managers, agents, and stipulations regarding recording contracts. The music industry functions as a business and artists need to market to large® audiences and thus songs such as “Radio” are arguably made. A thread regarding rap fans not purchasing albums has already been made on RapGenius and perhaps if fans did buy albums, management wouldn’t feel the need to market to a larger audience. Certainly Jim Jonsin may have a finger pointed at him for producing the song and ruining things, but in the scope of things, he’s a producer. He’s paid money and does his job by producing a song. But perhaps we can look onto others to blame too.

Reading between the lines and giving food for thought,

Rayne Man

I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t like it. It might just be I don’t really like fast rapper, never been a big Tech N9ne fan, I also don’t know where I stand on his voice, or the overall sound of the album really, I would have probably rated it a little lower, but definitely a great review, and I’m just pointing out all my negative opinions, Great job 6x.

Honestly I just think we have totally different preferences, You didn’t like The Preview, and I did, and you loved the Intro, and Growin Up In The Gutter, and I couldn’t stand the latter, I was almost scared during Growin Up In The Gutter, lol.

This review is spot on. This album definitely elevated my respect for Yelawolf. I was kind of on the fence about him, but after this effort, I’m def a fan. This album has replay value for sure. Yela went hard on several tracks, and I personally enjoyed the production a lot. Was that a Billy Joel sample on “Everything I Love the Most”? To me, it sounds like his song “Moving Out”. Anyway, awesome and well thought out review 6x.

Personally I loved Radio… And I’m almost certain Jim sampled parts of the original song, not sure the name of the song but it was some pop song from like the 80s or something. It was a tad cheesy on the hook but it went off the hook of the original song. I thought it would get at least a 3.5 not a 2 but eh.

But anyways, I was really hoping for more out of this album. It has a few amazing songs, and the song “Whip It” which is part of the bonus tracks, which to me is the greatest song on the album, and I personally wished Em hopped on that track cuz I know Marshall would have just MURDERED that beat.

But the intro blew me away. Like seriously. Best intro on any album ever. In the words of Tyler, the Creator, “Goblin intro, how the fuck you can top that”, well, Yela topped that by faaarrrrr.

I agree that the album itself gets around a 3.75 but if you’re rating it with the bonus tracks included, its around a 4.5.

I’ve said it before on RG, Trunk Muzik 0-60 is a thousand times better. It’s a lot less poppy, has more easily listenable beats, and Yela’s delivery was a lot better.

I’ve also heard a lot of shit that on Radioactive Yela went more into his soul, but I dunno of you’ve heard “Love is Not Enough”.

I hated Yela when I heard a few songs Em posted on Facebook off of this album like Let’s Roll. But after I heard everyone on here buzzing about him, I thought I’d have to give him a better listen. I listened to Radioactive a few times, and I wasn’t impressed.

But then I heard TM, and I almost creamed my pants. I love Yela, everything about him; his flow, his voice, his subject matter. I’m a redneck white boy too, so I get it.

Now, none of this changes in Radioactive, but those fucking poppy ass beats and faggy ass hooks ruin the shit out of it. Like what the fuck The only song I like the hook on is Everything I Love the Most. In fact, almost everything that’s not Yela on that album is almost trash, even the features. Like Gangsta Boo, Shawty Fatt, and Kidd Rock (that bitchass makes fucking country music now)? Are you fucking kidding me?

The majority of this album can get the fuck out. His verses were sick though.

And I’m not gonna lie, Mystikal was really good to see get featured on anything anymore. That nigga’s probably broke by now.

In my humble opinion, one of the best albums of the year. Probably couldn’t match up to his boss' joint effort Hell: The Sequel but it’s definitely a solid label debut.

And I’m glad he didn’t make every song like “Radioactive Introduction” and “Growin' Up in the Gutter” ‘cause, face it, the album would have sucked. I guess those songs fit in the 'Radioactive’ them but it’s good that he really mixed the album up with hard-production monsters, pop-friendly hits with a Southern twist, old school country-influenced joints, straight raps over decent beats, and the reflective emotional songs.

And I actually really like “Radio”! I think the hook is great in all fairness.

But favourite song is “Throw It Up” or “Everything I Love the Most”.