Waka Flocka Flame

To listen to Waka Flocka Flame’s debut album is to experience a new genre of music: guncore.

Flockaveli, so-titled after Waka Flocka fell in love with the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli (no, seriously) and Tupac’s stint as “Makaveli,” is obsessed with gunplay. Infatuated with it, even. The first song, “Bustin’ at ‘Em,” begins with machine-gun rounds firing for the initial 15 seconds. And the rest of the record has enough weapon sounds—gunshots, clips unloading and reloading, onomatopoeic “blams” and “pows”—that one has to think this would be Charlton Heston’s favorite album if he were still alive.

The songs are, for the most part, predictably repetitive until the fifth track, “No Hands.” Wale guest-stars and delivers a verse half-assed by his standards—which is to say, the best on the album. He possesses more talent in his Wizards jersey than every other artist here, and it shows.

Perhaps Flockaveli’s most interesting song is its final track, “F*** this Industry.” Waka Flocka begins by warning aspiring rappers to watch out for shady music executives and other undesirables in the industry. Certainly, this is good advice. Then he proceeds to repeat the chorus, “F*** this industry/I’m in these streets,” over and over and over again. Pretty soon, he drops this line: “Shoutout to my grandma for all those ass-whuppings.” Wait, what?

I cannot in good faith recommend this album, yet there’s a small part of me that is afraid I’ll be shot by Waka Flocka if I give it a bad rating. Five stars.