Young Buck’s latest street album, The Rehab, is like your mama’s comfort food versus that overly-embellished, gimmicky nonsense they’re serving up at that five-star restaurant on Park Ave. There are no leafy thingy-ma-jigs to intimidate your fork or unidentified substances to confuse your taste buds and leave behind a sour taste in your mouth. What you get with this album is good, solid street hip-hop and an array of catchy hooks that seal themselves to your memory after just one listen.  In fact, you could say The Rehab is a lot like Buck prefers his bling:  “nothin’ too reckless, but just enough ice to make you haters respect this.”

It’s probably unfair to admit this, but when I first popped The Rehab into my CD player I was already prepared to be annoyed. Like you, I’ve heard the G-Unit/50 Cent rumors and with all the ego-saturated insanity lacing hip-hop tracks these days but falling dramatically short of the mark musically, I kept my finger expectantly hovering over the ‘next’ button and was fully prepared to use it. But, although Buck calls out 50 Cent and constantly boasts his own badness and relevance, the album somehow seems more about ride-ability than brag-ability.

 Released through Real Talk Entertainment, the album’s standout songs are “Hood Documentary”, “When The Rain Stops” and “Smoke Our Life Away”. “Keep It Moving” is a street anthem that can stand all on its own. Buck’s raspy, street-worn vocals blend into the mix, enhancing and complementing the music, making it easy to listen to. And the hard-hitting but uncomplicated tracks (produced mostly by Hollis and Vince V and executive produced by Derrick “Sac” Johnson) make it easy to ride to.

 All in all, Young Buck’s The Rehab is like that urging necessity to hit up the McDonald’s drive thru on the way home from a Black Tie party and fill yourself with something meaty, familiar and substantial – and ba, da, ba ba ba, we’re loving it.