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WAKA FLOCKA FLAME Triple F – Friends, Fans & Family 6.13.12 1017 Bricksquad / Warner Bros. Record Dismissing complex lyrics in favor of adrenaline shots and ad-libs has worked for Waka Flocka Flame before. The rapper, meanwhile, quickly transitioned from a protégé of Atlanta MC Gucci Mane to star in his own right. With Triple F Life, the challenge was fleshing out a rising star whose anthems had made him fairly anonymous by design. BILLBOARD – ―Burning Up‖ feature Waka Flocka Flame‘s aesthetic — abetted here mostly by the producer Southside — is emphatically single-minded, as committed to form as, say, an old New York hardcore band or an arena-size Christian rock band or a 1990s progressive house producer. Like those sorts of acts Waka Flocka Flame extracts a tremendous amount of mileage out of rearranging extremely similar component parts…Waka Flocka Flame is more than an anomaly, that he‘s instead created room for the unhinged to stage a small comeback in hip-hop. NEW YORK TIMES - The Newest Rap: Intense, Authentic and Accidental‖ feature Indeed, there is something deceitfully playful in the rhythm and the delivery with which Flocka lays down his verses, something that almost seems easy in its repetitive simplicity. You can get an idea of it even in the cadence of his name—―Flocka!‖ is often yelled out in the mix as punctuation at the end of his lines. But it‘s the unrepentant rage, snarl, attitude, and sheer volume of his assault that renders his style nothing short of genius. V-MAN - ―Is Waka Flocka Flame Hip-Hop‘s Last Hope?‖ He says he‘s got no lyrics and he‘s not an MC. And that he‘s never going to change, except when he wants to. Still, everybody from the gangstas to the hipsters loves Waka Flocka Flame. What‘s his secret? XXL MAGAZINE - ―Everybody Loves Waka‖ COVER feature Every few years a new rapper comes out whose music pisses off the status quo so badly that they get blamed for completely ruining hip-hop. It happened to Soulja Boy years ago, but now the rapper folks love to hate is Waka Flocka Flame. This is ironic for a couple of reasons. First of all he actually makes great music—in fact Waka and Lex Luger changed the sonic landscape of hip- hop. COMPLEX.COM Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family album reviews Triple F is another set of barked strip-club salvos over high-hats and slurry synths from producer Lex Luger and a cast of lesser. Drake and Nicki Minaj add style, and one track is called ―power of My Pen,‖ but classing up Waka is like putting a fig leaf over King Kong‘s balls. ROLLING STONE (3 of 5 stars) Whenever a topline MC has a track in need of a guest-spot adrenaline shot, he asks Siri to summon Waka Flocka, who swoops in like a caffeinated Batman and unleashes his shot-first-ask- questions-later squall. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (B-) The Georgia rapper has never been one for nuance, and on his second album, his explicit rhymes boom over trunk-rattling bass lines. Mostly, he's talking about stacking paper, ballin', or calling for a Round of Applause from booty-clapping pole dancers. USA TODAY (2.5 of 4) Since Waka Flocka Flame's 2010, Flockaveli, the Bricksquad boss and Gucci Mane protégé has built a reputation for riotous singles and high-energy rhymes that'll move the crowds. On his follow-up effort, Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family, Flocka doesn't change his ways. He stills shout hooks, drops witty lines, and emphasizes ad-libs. But where he sounded angry last time around, on this album he's not afraid to show his sense of humor—ignoring lyrical criticisms to entertain his fans by all means necessary. Triple F Life is a filled with strip-club music and trap bangers powered by potent beats from Southside, Lex Luger and 808 Mafia. But on his sophomore effort, Flocka's sound evolved to embrace more of a crossover appeal as on the pop-flavored "Get Low" featuring Flo-Rida, Tyga, and Nicki Minaj. Make no mistake: Waka will continue getting love from a diverse crowd—hipsters and street-rapping purists included. Look out for cuts like ―Round Of Applause,‖ ―Rooster In My Rari,‖ and ―Candy Paint & Gold Teeth‖ to be bumping loud for the rest of the year. COMPLEX.COM - ―The 50 Best Albums of 2012 (So Far)‖ (#27, Triple F Life), 6/25/12 Waka takes a step beyond the grim, goon rap of Flockaveli (―Hard In Da Paint,‖ ―TTG‖)—which still bangs—to create a project that sounds more polished than its former. New-sounding tunes may not sit well with longtime fans, but they do, however, showcase the rapper‘s step towards attempts at filling in as a more well-rounded artist… Triple F Life stands as Waka‘s most personal project to date… Some will say Triple F Life finds Waka trying too do much, reaching too far out of his zone. But the rapper coolly exceeds expectations in his artistic self-awareness this go- round shines like his diamond-studded Fozzy Bear chain. ―I earned my spot,‖ he boasts on ―Power of My Pen.‖ Indeed, he has. XXLMAG.COM (XL of XXL) Triple F Life is very shouty but never truly mean, and surprisingly mood-cleansing. It also vies blatantly for broad appeal… Thankfully, smoothing out his voice for a couple pop-leaning tracks doesn‘t seem like the kind of thing that will stop Flocka from making a million more great mixtapes, or serving as a big brother figure to a new generation of unhinged rappers. Though he‘s still goofy in the limelight (at this year‘s Summer Jam concert, he ran around and then off the stage like a kid, apparently more comfortable in the crowd than in front of it), Waka‘s polished his act in the last couple years. THEFADER.COM - Interview: Waka Flocka Flame, 6/15/12 Although not-at-all Shakespeare, the lyrical content of this one isn‘t the usual; incognizance that Mr. Flame is generally known and loved for. HIP HOP WEEKLY (2 of 3) The Georgia MC won‘t wow you with overly insightful wordplay or pause-worthy one-liners; instead, he slathers digestible rhymes over booming basslines and methodical drum slaps. The results are best suited for the strip clubs he acknowledges, its seedy concoction a bit lowbrow and explicitly strident. BBC Gallons of testosterone. Lots of shouting. Gratuitous violence that you‘ll only quarter-believe. Then some more shouting. Waka Flocka Flame‘s new album, ―Triple F Life: Fans, Friends & Family,‖ has all the big-dumb-bang-bang-razzle-dazzle of a Michael Bay blockbuster. Which means it‘s kinda awesome.‖ WASHINGTON POST (4.5 of 5) It's tough to imagine Waka repeating Flockaveli and somehow improving on it, but under the cloak of Triple F's blatant crossover appeals, he slyly exceeds expectations by making a record better than it really needs to be. PITCHFORK.COM (7 of 10) Mostly Triple F Life sticks to the familiar neo-crunk of Flockaveli, with production handled primarily by Luger and his near sound-alike Southside, whose slightly slower beats lack the cathartic release of Luger‘s best ones. What Triple F Life lacks in inspiration, it can sometimes compensate for with sheer sweat, and particularly during its many strip-club salvos, Flocka‘s shouted enthusiasm and manic ad-libs keep the record animated. THE ONION‘S AV CLUB (C+ rating) As an artist, Waka Flocka Flame shows throughout the tracklist an interest in expanding himself as an artist, both topically, and in terms of format; it‘s difficult to knock an emcee for experimenting in the progression that hip-hop‘s been demanding he work toward… with Triple F Life, Waka seems to be showing us that he isn‘t placing his weight solely on wall-slamming anthems. OLOGY.COM (C rating) All in all, this album shows some decent growth from Flockavelli. Waka knows he can make the bang-bang shoot em up records, just as easily as he can make the strip club anthems, but Waka shows a side of himself that is rarely seen; a human side. He shows that he isn't just a wind-em- up doll who you tell to make and perform riot music on call, he's a guy who wants to talk about his life too. Had he'd been a more prolific lyricist, those songs would've come off a lot stronger, although the effort to branch out is appreciated. There are some huge hits and minor misses on this album, but it's definitely worth the iTunes purchase. HIPHOPWIRED.COM Flocka seems unable to give people any less than the ruggedness he‘s become known for, and it‘s one of the reasons he seems to be more relevant as of now than his labelmates. With the arrival of his second LP, Waka seems to be swinging heavily for the fences and radios, making Triple F Life: Friends, Fans, and Family a mixed bag, at best. ALLHIPHOP.COM (7 of 10) Triple F Life offers something for a variety of listeners without the compromises such a mix usually entails. It's a sustained portrayal of a complex personality. Its party anthems take detours into existential angst while its heavy songs often lose the plot and retreat to good-life cliché. As such it offers an understanding of Waka Flocka as conflicted, drawn in a repelled by his roots and his fame alike.

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