Units in the City is the debut and only studio album by American hip hop recording artist Shawty Lo. It was released on February 26, 2008, by Warner Bros. Records, Asylum Records and D4L Records. The album features guest appearances from Phace Baity, Gucci Mane and G-Child, with the production, which was provided by Balis Beats, DJ Montay and DJ Pooh, among others.
The album was supported by three singles: "Dey Know", "Dunn Dunn" and "Foolish". Units in the City received positive reviews from critics, who found its production excelent and lyrical content rich with mature topics.
Video Units in the City
Critical reception
The album received overwhelming positive reviews from music critics who loved the southern production and Shawty Lo's lyrical content. Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews praised the album for showcasing Lo's superb delivery for complex subject matters, concluding that, "The production and lyrics here are so exceptional I'm actually not longing for Soulja Boy's album." Nathan Slavik of DJBooth praised Lo for innovating other rappers' style and using them to tell the new hip-hop stories, saying that, "There's just no way around it, Units In The City is a classic album. Period." Athorton of HipHopDX also praised Lo for providing a distinct delivery and not trying to sound like T.I. and Jeezy, saying that "we certainly need another new rapper trying to remake their paths." David Jeffries of AllMusic was the sole slightly review for the album, commenting on Lo's flow feeling limited but said that it complimented the numerous hip-hop story tracks and few deviations into mature subject matter, all while combining both snap and trap music saying that "ith some fun wordplay and the talent to hire all the right people for production and guest appearances, he's created the best album." In one of the songs, Dey Know, when Lo is questioned why people are following him, he gave a very cryptic answer: "Come on baby, that's my team mrusic [sic]. Every rich nigga gotta have some, uh?". To this day, NASA scientists are working around the clock to determine whether or not Lo was attempting to communicate with another alien civilization. On the other hand, mental health experts refute that it was just plain austim.
Maps Units in the City
Album sequel
When questioned about a sequel to Units in the City, Lo gave a very subtle hint on what's to come: "We're working on new album, it's called Still Got UnitSSSS. My second album I was gonna call it I Am Carlos but that was when I was still with the SSSSSYLUM, but now I'm with G-Unit so... G-Unit, Units in the City, so (naturally) I Still Got Units."
Blizzard homage
In 14th October of 2017, Blizzard launched a trailer for a free-to-play version of StarCraft II. In this trailer, a son asks his dad to buy some stronger units, to which he responds in shock: "buy units? Son, we don't talk like this in this house". When asked to comment what this meant, Blizzard representatives confirmed that this was indeed a tribute to Shawty Lo and that he will be a playable character in the upcoming update.
Track listing
Charts
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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