Album Review: Curren$y – Weekend At Burnie’s

Artists: Curren$y

Album Title: Weekend At Burnie’s

Label: Jet Life Recordings/Warner Bros.

Release Date: 6/28/2011

A couple months ago Curren$y stated that he intended on dropping five projects before the year comes to a close. After already releasing The Alchemist produced mixtape Covert Coup, Spitta is one step closer to his goal with his second project of 2011, and his first official album of the year, Weekend At Burnies. A play on the 1989 film of the same name (but spelled “Bernie’s” instead of Burnies) Weekend At Burnies takes listeners on a journey through the Jet Life as Curren$y artistically displays a cinematic lifestyle that most people can only fantasize about.

Despite the cinematic approach, the lyrical content on Weekend At Burnie’s rarely goes beyond Curren$y’s lavish luxuries and prolific smoking habits making the album seem somewhat repetitive. But to his credit, Curren$y distinguishes the Jet life from the average rappers extravagant existence by blending the perfect amount of swag with a touch of sophistication. Instead of ignorantly boasting about how much money he has (like many of his peers) Curren$y chooses to take his lyrics to another level by painting elaborate pictures of his regal routine on the song “JLC” with lyrics like “B*tches on ya posters really coming over / feeling that Jet livin’ dozing off on suede sofas / waking up to mimosas, joy ride in high price roasters”. Curren$y continues to show why his swag is in a different league than your everyday MC on the song “Televised” which features Jet Life affiliate Fiend and a comical chorus that goes “The Reeferlution will be televised”. Like most rappers, Curren$y likes to burn it down, but he separates his allegiance to Mary Jane from the rest of the crowd by opening “Televised” with intricate bars based on real experiences when he spits “From high times cannabis cup judging to red carpet parties in new Orleans for my homecoming / Bring ya own bud in for test inspection full accesses is granted to my section / My diesel east coast my Kush is western conference / Chronic, nothing but the bombest.”  The way Curren$y keeps it cool with such class as he casually mentions a blue Ferrari on “Money Machine” or the girl that wants to ride in his jet on “She Don’t Want A Man” make Spitta seem like the James Bond or Bruce Wayne of the rap game…if James Bond and Bruce Wayne were constantly stoned. However, despite Curren$y’s smooth methods of articulating a fantasy lifestyle, by the end of the album it gets old and your more than ready to come back to the dull reality of your boring life.

The production on Weekend At Burnies consists of mostly mellow beats that contain that contain synthesizer melodies, the majority of which are produced by Monsta Beatz. The calm instrumentals are fitting as they co-exist nicely with Curren$y’s laid back flow, but there aren’t any beats that specifically standout as being better than the rest. Of course there are plenty of joints that are perfect for just relaxing and lighting up to, most notably “What’s What” and “On G’s” featuring Trademark Da Skydiver and Young Roddy. If your looking to hear Spitta get gritty on the track, your best bet for that would be the song “One Life” as that is the only beat on the album that goes particularly hard. If you desire the contrary, then definitely bump “This Is The Life” as the natural noises of the piano serve as a refreshing break from the synth sounds that dominate the rest of the album.

Weekend At Burnies isn’t Curren$y’s best work, but it is a project that his fans will enjoy. If you’re looking for an album that tastefully highlights all of the perks of being a successful rapper than look no further.  Although the album may get repetitive at times, clever lyrics like “Even as a broke n*gga, b*tches paid attention” are sure to keep you on your toes and remind you why Curren$y is one of the hottest MCs in the game right now. However, if Curren$y wants to stay at the top, then he’s going to have to step it up on the next three projects he plans on releasing this year. While Weekend At Burnie’s was an enjoyable album, the reality is it could have been better. I know it seems like Curren$y has been around for ages with all of the material he has released, but believe it or not, Weekend At Burnie’s is his major label debut. With that being said it would have been nice to see some more depth and development in Curren$y’s lyrics, and despite their collaborative history, Monsta Beatz isn’t exactly a step up from The Alchemist or legendary producer Ski Beatz whom Spitta has worked closely with in the past. Instead of dropping six figures on exotic Ferrari’s, perhaps Curren$y should invest some of his bills on making his next major label release a little more impressive. If we were to compare Curren$y’s discography to his garage, Weekend At Burnie’s would be a beamer, and while a beamer is a perfectly fine whip, it’s nothing compared to that Ferrari.

Let’s face it – judging an album on a scale of 1 to 5 mics just won’t cut it — that’s more of a magazine thing.  After constant office arguments regarding album ratings, we’ve decided to revise our album review process and fairly judge an artist’s work across multiple avenues.  At iHipHop.com, we believe every album deserves an impartial review, taking into account both music and cultural relevance.

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