I Want It All

I Want It All will undoubtedly prove hugely popular in Warren Griffin’s homeland of the USA, where its mixture of hip hop and r’n’b is proving all the rage. He will find it harder, however, to find a large slice of the market outside the States.

Blending super smooth jazzy, r’n’b licks with street-boy rap is all very well and good, but to these ears it’s a bit too pristinely produced, with not enough of the scratch, spittle and venom that makes hip hop dynamic.

With a supporting cast of special guests that includes everyone from Snoop Dogg to Flavor Flav, you’d expect a bit more than bad boy posturing and ‘I’m the man’ egomania, but that’s exactly what we get.

It’s not all bad, however. The title track, featuring Mack 10, is excellent, with Warren listing off the material possessions your average famous millionaire rapper needs, including money, fast cars, gold chains, clean socks and drawers. ‘You Never Know’ gets all soulful and sweet, with the help of a sample from Lionel Richie’s ‘Sweet Love’. This contrasts nicely with the harder edge of the in-your-face ‘We Got That’, which at least displays some raw passion.

But just when you’re thinking the bout of egomania has passed, Warren leaves us with a remix of the title track, where he reminds us “I’m the future/I’m the voice that you need to get used to”.

I don’t think so.