Album Review: The Charm by Bubba Sparxxx

Southern rapper Bubba Sparxxx must have taken the non-response to his 2003 album, the introspective Deliverance, to heart. He's moved out of the Timbaland camp -- although the producer does make an appearance on the infectious "Hey!" -- and into Big Boi's Purple Ribbon crew for his third release, the well-rounded, just-short-of-excellent Charm. Club bangers like the catchy "Ms.

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Bubba Sparxxx :: The CharmPurple Ribbon/Virgin RecordsAuthor: Steve 'Flash' JuonBubba Sparxxx got off to a hot start back in 2001 with the release of "Dark Days, Bright Nights." No one had heard of Warren Anderson Mathis before the song "Ugly" came along, but thanks to a fat bouncy Timbaland beat and a catchy chorus the LaGrange, Georgia native became one of the fastest rising stars in hip-hop. He had a lot to overcome to get respect - by his own admission he was a white boy from rural America who would be perceived as getting over BECAUSE of Timbaland and hadn't paid enough dues to earn the right to rap. With his second LP "Deliverance" he answered those critics and overcame the dreaded sophomore jinx with another fine album.

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It's a shame that glowing reviews can't be exchanged for goods and services. Rapper Warren "Bubba Sparxxx" Mathis's first two albums were as loved by critics as they were ignored by record buyers; steeped in country music and helmed by the reliably ingenious Timbaland, they relocated the most urban of genres to the hardscrabble nowheresvilles of rural Georgia. But the implication of this album's title - "third time's the charm" - is that the time for risk-taking is over, and Sparxxx has submerged his quirks in foursquare southern hip-hop.

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