Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire [PA]

Performer: E-40
Artist: The Click; Lil Wayne; Celly Cel; Fat Joe; B-Legit; Juvenile; B.G.; Jayo Felony; C-Bo; Sauce Money; Baby; Otis; Shug; Too Short; Levitti; Suga-T; D-Shot; The Mossie; A-1
Engineer: D-Whiz; Bosko
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: E-40, The Click, Celly Cel, B-Legit, B.G., Juvenile, Lil' Wayne, A-1, D-Shot, The Mossie, Suga T, Too Short, Baby, Sauce Money, Jayo Felony, C-Bo, Shug, B-Legit, Levitti, Kavio, Trayce, Mr. Kain, Omeezy, (vocals); Bosko (various instruments, programming, scratches, talk box); Ant Banks (various instruments, programming); D-Wiz (guitar); Nutt, Warren Mceanna (bachground vocals). Producers: Ant Banks, Rick Rock, Bosko. Principally recorded at the Cosmic Slop Shop, Sacramento, California and Chicken & Beats Studios, Los Angeles, California. Though West Coast wordsmith E-40 has been working his particular brand of Too Short-influenced hip-hop for more than a decade, BLUEPRINT OF A SELF-MADE MILLIONAIRE makes clear that his formula hasn't lost any of its luster. Most impressive here are the arrangements--busy, jazzy soundscapes, rife with quick snippets of vocal overdub that add subtle shades of meaning to the rotund MC's street-influenced narratives. On "Ballahollic, he brings a welcome sense of levity to his lyrical tough-guy posturing ("If you see me in a fight with a bear / Don't help me, help the bear!). While "Get Branded" may remind listeners of DOGGYSTYLE-era beat backdrops, the song is marked by psychedelic Rick James-like incantations. "Look at Me" bears the closest resemblance to the West Coast playa style, with its dry and trebly drum-machine beats, vocoder flourishes, and pitch-bending keyboards. Fans of self-aggrandizing West Coast hip-hop at its most hyperbolic won't want to miss BLUEPRINT OF A SELF-MADE MILLIONAIRE.

Vibe (12/99, p.261) - "...a pixilated excursion through E's playa lifestyle: parties, pretty women, and paper....leaving you with a...good idea of how an 11-year vet can make a hip hop album that doesn't sound stale..." The Source (12/99, pp.242-4) - 3.5 mics out of 5 - "...E-40 is one of [Oakland's] most respected prophets....[He] weaves disturbingly vivid tales of the Bay Area's underworld, spit with his trademark slangtionary and a hint of humor....40 manages to hit a homerun nevertheless..."

As a solo performer, label owner (Sick Wid It Records), and member of hip-hop outfit the Click, rapper E-40 has been representing the often underappreciated Bay Area hip-hop scene since the early 1990s. E-40 is credited with helping the Bay Area hyphy movement (something of a West Coast version of crunk) gain national exposure and is well known for his legendary flow, which incorporates one of hip-hop's most extensive and developed slang vocabularies--a considerable amount of which was created by E-40 himself. His MY GHETTO REPORT CARD was released in 2006 and once again showed why 40 is one of the most respected gangsta rappers in the game.

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