Alternative hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang gives homage to the most important meal of the day. And really, “Breakfast” is hardly an arbitrary album title. The album’s songs are largely upbeat and exceptionally catchy — great for starting your day in a positive mindset.
The album opens up with “Breakfast,” a nice means of shaking off your sleepiness. The album’s title track, which is far more commanding than much of the songs that follow it — quite “up and at ‘em.” “Breakfast,” the song, has the rapper sort of bragging about who he is and what he’s done, a la many other rappers.
Chiddy Bang has never been a band praised particularly for astounding or innovative lyricism. The figurative language at work throughout “Breakfast” is not embellished with the devices other rappers seek. The themes encapsulated in “Breakfast,” such as love, heartbreak and getting high are expressed simply. I find that this simple, sing-song flow of Chiddy’s is a descriptor for Chiddy Bang as a duo — the emphasis that Chiddy Bang is making songs that are approachable and/or capable of getting a party started.
“Handclaps & Guitars” is exactly as it sounds: a grooving guitar sample over some hand claps, perfect for the said Chiddy Bang party. It’s followed with yet another catchy “Mind Your Manners” with an accented, acoustic guitar strum to be taken over by blaring synthesizer. “Does She Love Me” shatters Chiddy Bang’s catchy streak. Even though they differ in subject matter, “Run It Back” and “Out 2 Space” are mellower tunes, gain showcasing Chiddy Bang’s juxtaposition between being bright and deep.
“Breakfast” is best absorbed from a step back. The album does not seem impressive when approaching it from a lyrically-intense mindset. Rather, the album is good for what it is: a slew of addicting, poppy hip-hop songs, perfect for a party.
Grade: B
