Blood, Sweat and Tears - Ace Hood

I don't get it.

This one's by me, Matt Lovett, this time. This is an interesting one for me to come back with as anyone who knows or is even slightly familiar with me would probably be surprised that I would put time into writing about an album such as Blood, Sweat and Tears (especially so much.) I agree, given my usual indie/garage/punk tastes. Frankly, one song from Ace Hood and one tongueless, half-moan shout of his name would have been the end of my aural relationship with him. However, it is out of a friendly promise (I have a friend who is a HUGE fan of this guy) and an urge to test myself by analyzing and listening to an album I would not usually do that I have reviewed Ace Hood's new record. Now with that said...

Ace Hood's first top 10 record opens with a hook supplied by T-Pain. The hook is catchy and fun, but cheesy with a sarcastic, “oh wow I haven't heard this before” sensibility. In other words, using T-Pain as a feature is worn out and his niche in music seems to have disappeared. To back up T-Pain's role, Ace Hood goes on to explain why he is in fact the “king of the streets.” As Ace Hood goes on about how this is the “realest shit he ever wrote” I can't help but wonder: “what streets is Ace Hood exactly the king of?” Ace Hood's verses are simply empty, egotistical ramblings-- ramblings fueled by disillusionment. For shit's sake, he got T-Pain-- the “I'm on a Boat!” guy.

The second track, “Go N Get It” doesn't have the radio quality of its predecessor but makes up for it with an Ace Hood squeal in its introduction (check out 0:18). It then goes into a bunch of tired, uncreative lines about money and Ace Hood's problems. “Another day, another dollar” and “I'm a God-fearing nigga” are the types of things heard on this track-- reflecting Ace Hood's inconsistency in his verses and his inability to focus on a singular subject. Maybe I just don't get it, but by the end of “Hustle Hard” Ace Hood has probably mentioned his daily troubles and/or getting money/“hustling” more times than it is reasonable to count.

When the third, Yo Gotti-featured track, “Errythang,” came on, Ace Hood as a musician came together to me; he uses the same structure for most (if not all) of his songs, beginning with the hook and then following this structure: hook-verse-hook-verse-hook-etc. Not to mention the fact that “tough”, generally minor-key synthesized beats are a staple on Ace Hood tracks. To top it off, I still don't know what “errythang” means.

Pop-star, dancer and woman beater Chris Brown provides a slight break in Ace Hood's groaned hooks but still is incredibly confusing. What does “body two body [Body 2 Body]” signify? Translation please.

In the next song, Ace Hood has proven to listeners that “memory lane” is no longer an expression used exclusively by middle-aged persons. In addition, his song “Memory Lane” has also proven that one can be excused to a certain degree for judging a book by its cover (I can use cliché metaphors too!!!!) or in this case, a song by its title. I will give credit to Ace Hood in that there's at least a somewhat legitimate message here in this track, as it seems that Ace Hood may have had some real things to say about his past. Nonetheless, Ace Hood relies on low and overused phrases to express that “shit done changed.”

“Letter to My Exs” follows “Memory Lane,” creating a nostalgic back-to-back. As if you couldn't call it from the title, Ace Hood reflects on his past romances: how he thought he was in love once, started realizing “shit,” then had to let her/them go. Ace Hood philosophizes on love in fading out the track-- “fuck love” he concludes before going into the final refrain recitation. I should also mention that he doesn't fail to mention the quality of the “pussy” his exs provided in the hook of the track.

It seems rather contradictory that after a discouraging rant about love Ace Hood follows it up with the closest thing to a love song on the album-- “Beautiful.” Kevin Cossum croons “This one's for you girrrrlll” during the refrain while Ace Hood is flipping out about how attractive the girl he's talking to is in this song. I'm glad Ace Hood got over his cynicism and no longer feels burned by love, but Ace Hood has once again confused me-- did he grow that much between songs? It makes the legitimacy of his songs questionable. Perhaps Ace Hood just pulls most or all of his lines out of his ass even when he raps about things he says that he specifically underwent. Ace Hood appears to be having trouble putting the real him out there to listeners.

A string arrangement and an acoustic guitar intro embellishes the prayer-based next track “Lord Knows,” whereas Ace Hood is regretful of his life's deeds and needy of God's help. Ace Hood's knack for overuse and weak attempts for lyrical depth is still present even in this song, as chanted in the song's refrain: “only Lord knows what the hell that I've been really through.” “Lord Knows” is up there with “another day, another dollar” and “same shit, different day;” these are all exasperated phrases that thwart listener understanding or empathy. This is a defining defect of Ace Hood; his lack of eloquence in his verses hinder any sort of connection he could have with listeners, save those who may appreciate the superficial.

“Bitter World” is the same exact thing as every other track on this album where Ace Hood discusses his life's upsets and downfalls. He really doesn't change anything, save his tacky metaphors. “Spoke to My Momma” is also a similar deal, just with a motherly context. In actuality, the only thing that's different is that Ace Hood starts the song with “Spoke to my momma the other day” then continues to talk about hustling, his dreams and whatever depressing shit he was dealing with on every song prior to this one again.

I can only assume that the “Hustle Hard” remix is last because Lil' Wayne and Rick Ross, probably the most prominent mainstream hip-hop figures on this album, make appearances. They come off as celebrities almost by being on the last track, but their verses are as clunky and forgettable as Ace Hood's and quite lazily use many words from the song's refrain for their parts.

Ace Hood's Blood, Sweat and Tears is as sad as the entities that entitle the record. Ace Hood will need to develop his flow, consistency and creativity in order to produce a LP that can even be close to solid. Until then, I remain unimpressed and flustered with the repetitious middle-school level figurative language stuck in my head.