Last summer, Cash Money Records showed that they were more than just hip-hop when they released the single Let It Rock by then unknown rocker Kevin Rudolf. Featuring Lil Wayne, Let It Rock became a surprise hit record. Since then, Rudolf has been steady working on his debut disc To the Sky. 

Featuring guest spots from Lil Wayne, Baby, Three Six Mafia and more, the disc veers away from the hard rocking sound of Let It Rock but not too far. Giving you 12 tracks of rock/pop influenced sounds, Rudolf shows that he’s more than a one hit wonder.

The disc jumps off with I Made It, ft. Baby, Lil Wayne and Jay Sean. The booming guitars and drums give this record a really big, triumphant sound. The hook boldly proclaims, “I look up to the sky and now the world is mine/ I known it all my life/ I made it, I made it”. The hook and the track match perfectly alongside for the celebratory rhymes of Baby, Jay Sean and Weezy.

Where he wins with I Made It, he stumbles with You Make The Rain Fall, ft. Flo Rida. A trite pop/rock record that poses as a strip club banger, You Make The Rain Fall doesn’t do much to wet your musical appetite. With a bland hook, “You make the rain fall/ Because you’re so beautiful that it’s painful” matched up with mundane lyrics like, “I want you bad, so I stand in line, you tell me lies to keep me up all night,” makes this track fast forward material. And Flo Rida doesn’t help this disaster when he spits, “I cover my head/ Thunder and lighting/ It’s raining bread.”

Another let down of a track is Whatchu Waitin, ft. Three Six Mafia. Another “club song”, this time Rudolf partners up with 3-6 for this mash-up. Rudolf sings, “After a few shots/ She can go all night/ I hit the right spot and she’s all mine…whatchu waitin for?” while Juicy J and DJ Paul give you the usual mix of over sexual, drug laced lyrics that dulls the track even more.

Spit In Your Face, ft. Lil Wayne, saves the album. Wayne comes out blazing with lines like, “Straight off the bat I come straight off my back with a gun like I’m in Iraq and step back and battle my own shadow cause y’all  wack…you suck d***/ I suc-ceed”, while Kevin Rudolf adds his nasal high pitched screams to the track. Even though this cut stands out head and shoulders above most of the tracks on this LP, it comes off like a Lil Wayne track featuring Kevin Rudolf. 

And here lies the problem for this album. While Rudolf has the ability to stand on his own (check out What Do U Got, Don’t Cry), he finds himself lined up with artists like Wayne who overshadow him on his own disc. It’s not until we hear Must Be Dreamin, ft. Rivers Cuomo of the group Weezer, where we hear what makes Rudolf special.

Cuomo, a veteran of the rock/pop world brought out the best in Kevin. Bringing in that 80’s synthesizer sound, you can hear elements of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams in the track. Rudolf finally takes a step out of the club to discuss love found and love lost belting out lyrics like, “All I know is that I need you/ After all the things that we’ve been through…I close my eyes and you walk in/ Now I know I must be dreamin again.” This is hands down the best track on the album.

What can I say about Kevin Rudolf? Though his A-List rap partners may help him sell records, he shines best when partnered up with someone who really understands pop/rock (see Rivers Cuomo). For a debut disc, To The Sky is a good try but you can’t help but think that he can be a lot better.

- By Mekha