Ace Hood BLOOD SWEA(EXPLICIT)

Photographers: Chad Griffith; Hannibal Matthews.
A serious step up from his previous work, Ace Hood's Blood Sweat & Tears is mostly just that, but with a couple radio-aimed numbers shoehorned in. Cool pillow-talk tracks like "Body 2 Body" with Chris Brown and the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League come off as crowd-pleasing interludes in an otherwise hungry album that takes the DJ Khaled style of Florida rap from penthouse to pavement. "Go n' Get It" combines a Lex Luger grind with a paranoid Hood who seethes and spits after a cousin's overdose brings death to the neighborhood. "Memory Lane" is a surprisingly soulful and successful swing at the "come-up" track, sweetened by Kevin Cossom doing his Drake-like bit and sentimentalized with a wistful Johnny Bristol sample. Hood himself remains believable through the hard bits and amusingly thug during the soft moments ("Was that Chanel No. 5?/Very sexy fragrance/Are those your real eyes?/I can tell you're partially Asian"). In the end, the album plays out as the gutter alternative to Rick Ross and Hood's best work to date. ~ David Jeffries

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop