Silkk the Shocker

No Limit

After watching Silkk the Shocker’s segment on MTV’s Cribs, I’m having a hard time seeing the brother of New Orleans rap mogul Master P as anything more than a kid who inherited a life of leather furniture and luxury sedans. Riding on insufferable ticky-tacky grooves, most of Silkk’s output before My World, My Way is strictly by-the-book No Limit product: charismaless, clichéd, and maximized for Dirty South profit. The new disc purports to be a state-of-the-art big-willie throwdown, but Silkk (aka Vyshonn Miller) threatens only to find the lowest common denominator of rap nonchalance, as if there’s no “angst” in “gangsta.” The well-publicized departure of No Limit in-house production team Beats by the Pound leaves newcomer Myke Diesel to update Silkk’s sound, and the results are just as cut-rate as the old stuff. Check the B-grade Ruff Ryders knockoffs “He Did That,” “Haters,” and the title track for evidence: The synth blips might be terser and less fake-velvety, but those allegedly strong verbal hooks could’ve been lifted from any previous No Limit script. The guest list, meanwhile, is the only thing approaching manifesto quality, with Snoop Dogg exhaling a few smoky old-school bars on the good-natured “Pop Lockin’” and Mystikal (who wisely ditched No Limit last year) barking out some perfunctory “uh-ohs” on “Them Boyz.” Even in slack mode, those two are more entertaining than Silkk himself. Some have hailed My World, My Way as the sign of a renewed No Limit; it figures that rap’s cult of no personality would have a bland savior.

—Joe Warminsky