Big Baller

by Jason BirchmeierMC Breed had a lot of momentum going into Big Baller, his fifth album in five years. A year before, in 1994, his Funkafied album reached Billboard's R&B Top Te, and a year before that, in 1993, he scored a big hit with 2Pac, "Gotta Get Mine." However, things started to go downhill for Breed here. First of all, he began moving towards the Southern sound that would evolve into Dirty South by the end of the decade. That's fine and everything, particularly since he was able to get TOO|$HORT?Too $hort on his album, but his fans were left more than a little frustrated. After all, he began as a Midwestern rapper who synthesized East and West styles, then adopted a West Coast style, and here he is leaving that behind for a proto-Dirty South sound. And keep in mind that this all occurred within five years! Secondly, Big Baller didn't have any hits like "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'" or "Gotta Get Mine." With little to no airplay and no major-label marketing budget, this album dropped and disappeared quietly. Lastly, his label at the time, the Atlanta-based Wrap, dropped a greatest-hits album only three months after Big Baller hit the streets, eclipsing sales and seeming like overkill to many. Nonetheless, even if Big Baller broke the momentum Breed had going into the album, the album still broke into Billboard's R&B Top 20.