Nothing On You – B.o.B Nothing On You – B.o.B

If you haven’t heard of B.o.B (aka Bobby Ray Simmons) yet, you must be living in a cave. His infectious first single, Nothing On You, featuring Bruno Mars, just went platinum after selling over a million copies. I love this song. You love this song. Your mom loves this song. That being said, the rest of the album isn’t as insanely catchy; however, it’s a great mix of pop, soul, and hip hop reminiscent of Gym Class Heroes and Outkast.

While the first song, Don’t Let Me Fall, isn’t nearly the best track on the album, I really liked the blend of dreamy background music mixed with heavy guitars and B.o.B’s verses about fame and how it can slip right through your fingers. The second single from the album, Airplanes featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore, is another haunting lament about fame and remembering the old times when it was hard to “get a tip at Subway.” While I really respect B.o.B, his rhymes, and his rise to fame, I think that maybe the album’s tracks focus a little too much just on this part of his life.

Nevertheless, the album is essentially perfect for a party, with a few hot dance tracks (Putting on My Shades, feat. Lupe Fiasco, Magic, a playful track about “touching tracks and making them into gold” with Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, and 5th Dimension, a semi-rehash of Snoop’s Drop It Like It’s Hot) and some more low-key jams (The Kids feat. Janelle Monae, Lovelier Than You, a cute little bongo-filled love song). Just to clarify, this isn’t revolutionary stuff, just a solid first album from a rapper who has lots of potential. It’s also a perfect summer album for taking road trips to the beach and cruising around with the friends. I give it a 3/5.