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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Boy's Da Band has a lot of room to grow!, September 30, 2003
There's much to like about Too Hot for TV. However, there's just as much, if not, more to dislike about it as well!First, the good. Diddy must be commended for basically taking every hot spot in America and giving them shine through their respective performers. New York gets Babs and Dylan. Detroit has Sara Stokes. Philly gets E Ness. Miami gets Fred. New Orleans has Young City.
You cannot say that they didn't get decent beats to perform on. Wyclef Jean blesses them with 'Do You Know', a track that hits with the same kind of power and feel as the Destiny's Child breakout 'No No No' remix. The Bad Boy house producers Dofat and Diddy himself lace them with some sounds including their lead single 'Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That', 'Living Legends', 'Tonight' and 'I Like Your Style'.
Sara Stokes, the singer whom went from a whiny girl that couldn't sing on hip hop tracks to a woman with pipes singing hooks, shines with a voice with more power than Faith Evans, the ORIGINAL R&B singer of Bad Boy.
Ness could easily be a star out of Philly if given more time on the mic without the rest of his Band-mates interrupting the drama he builds on the mic. 'Go Steady', featuring him and Sara, could easily vault both into superstardom with its smooth R&B sound, Stokes' crystal clear voice and Ness' verse that just screams 'crossover'
Now, the bad.... I didn't mention any of the rest of Da Band because they create part of the problem that really damages a potentially great record. Babs is fine as the heavy-spitting BK chick with as much aggression as Lil' Kim on her better days! Fred is a drastically unique voice that sets him apart from most everything you hear out there. Dylan's dance hall reggae influences and ability to carry a tune add a great flavor to hooks and a breath of fresh air on tracks full of rapping.
Young City is the beginning of the death of this album. He sounds like an amateur spitting tired lyrics with a voice that has no power behind it. City, aka Chopper, reminds me very much of just about every wannabe MC around me: average voice that just sounds like he's talking, cliched lyrics, and a presence that makes him look like a boy among men!
Another MASSIVE problem I get here is with the production. No, the beats are fine. The production parts that kill it for me are their almost unbearable need to feature all of Da Band on every track. This would be fine on 5-7 minute songs, where each MC could get extended verses to build, climax, and cadence. However, with a typical song length of 3 and a half minutes, we are left with songs that give artists shorter bursts to go, with 'Do You Know' giving them only 2 bars to make a statement! For the listener, it's a feeling of 'I'm really feeling where this guys going but... wait.... they're gone!' and you lose their energy! It's a VERY annoying facet of the disc that happens all to often. I would've preferred much more with much less.
Lyrically, it's nothing that you'll see as a future Hip Hop Quotable, but it's also not something that a middle school kid conjures up thinking they're a vicious MC. Very middle of the road, with Young City having a significant;y negative impact on the lyrics. He needs to grow up and really learn to right about more than money, cars, rims, girls, drugs, and jewels! Overall, it's not a BAD disc... but it's also not something that I'd put in heavy rotation in my iPod. It's like cough medicine; good for you in small doses, but, taken all at once, will definitely hurt you! And, pray that Diddy makes solo artists out of Ness and Sara, uses Dylan for killer hooks like a Sean Paul, gets Babs a 'lady's night'-esque killer single, and pairs Fred and Young City, as one's strengths will hide the other's weaknesses!
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by Da Band 
