In the 1990's, every rap crew, label, and subsidiary had a "kid rapper" on their roster; a pop or thugged-out pre-tween that came in as an A&R's dream, but rarely ever expanded beyond a few menial hit songs before disappearing into obscurity. Of these tiny rhyme-toting phenomenons, the only one to really continue on to true success was Cash Money's Lil Wayne (NOTE: every Lil' Wayne "fan" better be able to cite all of his albums and appearances prior to "Tha Carter").
Now, in 2010, we see the re-entry of Shyheim; a grizzled and inked version of the once-youthful kid-emcee of Wu Tang Clan. Returning with "Pain", a song that can be categorized as yet another dirty-south-twinged East Coast rap, Shyheim does his best to prove that he can be immense without Method Man and RZA penning his lyrics. As excited as we are to see Shy hit the scene and blow up by delivering some astoundingly good "real hip hop" (for lack of a better term), this song ain't the one that'll put him over. His writing abilities and inner passion are apparent, but the overall feel is far from convincing or entertaining. Growth is inevitable, but hopefully, Shyheim's next release will provide something that encompasses that old Wu chemistry if he hopes to achieve the come-up that we'd all like to see.
Bonus: classic Shyheim throwback... Note the difference.