Waka Flocka Flame resuscitated street rap and his sound became the lifeblood of the genre's underground. That sound-- Lex Luger and Southside's thunderous productions paired with Waka's halting flow-- is now on the downside of its peak as a whole host of newer rappers and producers have begun to spread their influence. But while Waka's second album, Triple F Life, came and went with little fanfare over the summer, his new mixtape, Salute Me or Shoot Me 4: Banned From America, proves that his grasp on his own aesthetic is strong enough to keep his music from feeling stale.
Waka's energy has an almost gravitational pull and it's as strong here as ever. But lately, he's begun to expose a softer side of himself (like subtitling his last album Friends, Fans, and Family) that makes him Fozzie Bear-lovable. In fact, his songs are hardly even angry anymore. There's a gleeful streak running through Salute Me 4 that gives it a decidedly different vibe: It's an hour of shouting that sounds like a hug.
Waka also remains an underrated songwriter, and the hooks on Salute Me 4 come at you in a barrage. Though he's largely fallen off the pop charts, tracks like "Tweekin", "Randy Savage", and especially "24 Hours" are pure pop-rap. And though he's often derided for his simple rhymes, one man's "simple" is another man's joy at being able to sing along to hooks by the second chorus, and Southern rap blogs are littered with rappers who can't figure out that balance. Waka has no such problem.
Salute Me or Shoot Me 4 largely finds Waka in a vacuum: Lex Luger is absent, so Southside ably handles much of the production. Guest spots are limited to Brick Squad members, old friends (Yo Gotti, Roscoe Dash), and newer rappers who play well with Waka's aesthetic. But the record is risky in another way: hip-hop hates nothing more than something that doesn't sound new. Then again, this is a guy who claimed Nas as one of his five favorite rappers while mocking the importance of lyrics. Uncompromising self-confidence has never been a problem for him.
