nelly

Brass Knuckles, Nelly's fifth studio release, meets all the apparent requirements for today's rap album. An Akon-provided chorus? Check ("Body On Me"). A dance floor anthem with Fergie? Check ("Party People"). How about Nelly's own specialty, the product-obsessed track where the rapper boasts about his fashion sense and expendable income? Check ("Steppin' on My J'z").

Although Brass Knuckles makes for decent club music, it fails to produce anything new or exciting. In its entirety, the album results in an almost never-ending onslaught of horniness and rep disparaging.

Nelly attempts some subject diversity with "Self-Esteem," a "never-quit" song that touches on issues of racism and the current war. He speaks for today's soldiers when he boldly claims, "I pledge allegiance all the way to Iraq/But ain't nobody pledgin' to me when I get back." However, "Self-Esteem" is hardly a deep social critique and ends up confusing the consistency of the rest of the album, where most tracks match the theme of "U Ain't Him"-a fervent attack on wannabe gangsters.

Ultimately, Brass Knuckles is bereft of any concrete identity. Each track features at least one collaborator, a tactic that often overpowers Nelly's presence on his own album.

One wonders if the A-list roster of Brass Knuckles is only a studio device to disguise the lazy lyrics and unoriginal rhythms it offers. Since Sweat/Suit, Nelly has acted in a movie, bought a professional basketball team and played in the World Series of Poker. The quality of Brass Knuckles begs the question: Has making music become Nelly's newest side project?