Since converging into Atlanta’s fledging music scene in late 2004 as a six person collection of hood adrenaline Crime Mob has been on a steady climb. On the strength of “Knuck If You Buck” and “Stilletos” the Mob managed to move nearly 300,000 copies of their almost non-promoted self titled debut with the help of only one video. Almost three years later a few legal circumstances finds the once sextet down to a quartet. With Killa C now incarcerated and MIG only contributing a single beat to their latest project the weight now lies on the shoulders of Cyco Black, Diamond, and siblings Princess and Lil Jay. Judging from their first single off Hated On Mostly “Rock Ya Hips” the Mob’s hit catalogue is already reloaded, now is the moment of truth for there sophomore effort.

The album opens up with each member formally reintroducing themselves on the Lil Jay produced “Represent”. Although Crime Mob collectively doesn’t do a very good job of rapping about anything meaningful they do a great job of putting together joints with mean bass like the album’s Lil Jay produced title track. DJ Montay from the Oomp Camp laces the Mob with another mean ass bass filled anthem with the aggressive “2^nd Look”. On “Shine Cause I Grind” the Mob makes good use of a chopped sample of Mike Jones voice for the hook while the four detail the struggles of there younger days and how they managed to stay away from the retail of narcotics. The track is appreciated because it goes to show that all rough edged musicians don’t need to advertise the sale and use of drugs just to make a good song.

On “Go To War” the Mob once again utilizes a Texas rhyme spitter’s lines for the hook, the difference this time being that Pimp C actually shows up on the track making this a fresh and needed break from the monotonous tone from the core members. The album’s high point comes when producer Doc Jam samples “Going In Circles” from Friends Of Distinction on “Circles” where the collective spit about the emotional roller coaster ride of relationships. The album’s last notable concoction comes on the Cyco Blac produced “All Madden” where the highest level of competition on the legendary video game is used to describe the power of the group’s prescence in the rap game.

Hated On Mostly is well done for what Crime Mob is trying to accomplish. The four members manage to put together an album that fans of there first album will appreciate while new fans looking to get in on the action will also be far from disappointed. As with any album focusing on crunk jams there are enough dry spots to take away from the overall consistency of the album. Making that notion worse is the fact that the album clocks in with only 13 tracks, take away about four of the efforts and your left with a suitable number of tracks for a short but energized workout session!

VERDICT – 12 / 20
LYRICS: 3
PRODUCTION: 4
DELIVERY: 3
CONSISTENCY: 2