Does anyone else remember that six time world champion and WWE Hall of Famer Randy Savage made a rap album? Well, now you guys know and honestly, it’s not great. I’ll be giving you a review of this album, track by horrible track, and let you know that this horrendousness exists. Now, music isn’t my strong suit. I’m not a writer for Rolling Stone, or anything even close, but I think I know a bad album when I see it. Here’s a look in to the madness that is, Be A Man.
Background
There is some background to this, as Randy Savage didn’t wake up one day and say ‘OOOH YEEAH! Time to drop a rap album, DIG IT!’ No, there’s some beef behind it. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were on again-off again frenemies, and he challenged Hogan to a pay per view fight for charity, and Hogan didn’t show, so Randy decided to drop a rap album to diss the Hulkster. He signed with Big3 records and even got some hype from 50 Cent. However, even with Randy Savage being Randy Savage it was a critical and financial failure. AllMusic and SputnikMusic each gave it 1 out of 5 stars, and RapReviews gave the album a 4 out of 10 score. The album sold about 3,000 copies because it’s that bad. With that out of the way….. Here we go.
Intro
Not that much to be said on the intro, outside of people saying that it’s pretty crazy that a guy like Randy Savage is trying to rap. And to be honest, they’re not wrong.
I’m Back
Savage kicks off this travesty to audio talking about how he’s back after a brief hiatus, and how it’s crazy that he’s a rapping wrestler. Ironically, a couple of years later John Cena would drop a much, much better rap album. The main gist of this song is that everyone wants to know what Randy Savage has been up to lately, and that he’s back.
RU Ready
About 98% of this song is are you ready. In traditional early 2000’s fashion they do the ‘put your hands in the air and wave them like you don’t care,’ shtick and then Savage starts rapping and the rhymes are corny, and he harps on how crazy that a wrestler is rapping for the second straight track, technically the third including the intro. It’s also inclined that Randy Savage is a bit of a party animal. And the guitar solo to end the song was nice.
Hit the Floor
I have no idea who DJ Kool is, but he’s apparently legendary. DJ Kool and Savage have a meh verse and that we need to make some noise and hit the floor. Are you ready to party? I’m sure you will be after listening to this song. Savage was also a teacher at the SOHK, that’s the School of Hard Knocks in case you haven’t figured it out. Then DJ Kool tried to get the listeners jumpin, asking them where they’re from, and to scream. Not really much else to write home about.
Let’s Get it On
No, it isn’t the Marvin Gaye song, but it’s yet another song where Savage says that he wants to fight people with a deadly force to snap necks. The lyrics are kinda contradictory. First, he tells people to step back and then he tells people to bring it on. Just two cheesy verses and a couple of hooks. Not much else.
Remember Me
Do you guys remember ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage? Pepperidge Farms remembers. This song talks about the highlights of Randy’s career, like winning the WWE Championship, wrestling in front of 93,000 people, and that for the umpteenth time, that he’s a rapping wrestler. He didn’t really bring up his career in WCW, and had a super cheesy acronym for Macho Man.
Tear it Up
Randy Savage likes to rock and it’s time to get the party started. He talks about how he was a wrestler turned rapper and got those mad flows, but like 50% of the lyrics are saying tear it up, and c’mon guys. Couldn’t think of more lyrics? I like to rock and roll, but not when it’s every other word.
Macho Thang
AJA has a feature in this track talking about how she wants to be Savage’s lady, and all Macho talks about is how it’s time for him to pick up some chicks and he’s just doing his Macho thing. The song is called Macho Thang. But he says Macho thing in the song. I guess Macho Thang is catchier? I don’t really know. But I guess all the ladies like Randy Savage doing his Macho thing. Whatever that is.
Be a Man
Ah, the title track. In my opinion, it’s the best song on the album, which really isn’t saying much because this album is a steaming pile of crap. In this song, Savage calls out Hulk Hogan for a fight, but Hogan didn’t show. Honestly, we all love Hulk Hogan diss tracks as much as the next guy, but I wish Savage went harder. Especially all the bad blood he’s had with Hogan in the past, he should’ve gone a lot harder. It’s the only song on the album worth the listen mainly because it’s hilarious.
Get Back
Another fighting song. Lyrically, this is one of the better performances for Savage, which isn’t saying much considering he’s not a rapper. The rhymes are somewhat serviceable albeit super cheesy, but it worked for Savage’s delivery I guess. Then the song takes a dive when Blaze gets on the track. The dude rhymed ring with ring, and Randy Savage didn’t even do that. Savage must also be a fan of Cypress Hill, because he said ‘insane in the brain’ like a million times in this song.
Feel the Madness
When I heard the opening guitar riff, I thought ‘hey, maybe this song won’t be as bad.’ I was wrong. Savage is about to pull a caper and how he’s the baddest dude on the planet. And it’s time for everyone to feel the madness, and honestly how they said it in the chorus makes it feel like something from a Marilyn Manson song. Savage hyping himself and telling everyone to feel the madness from New York to LA is cool, but doesn’t change the fact that this song is a whole lot of meh.
What’s it All About
Randy Savage has been known for being super intense and screaming a lot. So of course he’s the perfect fit for an R&B song. Savage talks about how much he loves his lady and his voice is super quiet, and it comes off as a bit creepy. Then we get some random dude coming in on the chorus saying that his lady wants to leave, and what’s it all about. Honestly, the less R&B songs Randy Savage sang, the better but this was one too many.
Gonna Be Trouble
Looks like there’s about to be trouble. Yet another song about Randy Savage wanting to fight and everyone better watch out because Randy’s ready to explode. The guest feature was meh. I mean he had somewhat better lyrics than Randy Savage but I’ll say it again. Randy Savage is a wrestler, not a rapper. It was just meh. Nothing else to really say, it was just a meh song with meh lyrics and not a great beat.
My Perfect Friend
This one I can’t really make fun of here, because it’s a tribute song to Savage’s good friend, Mr. Perfect. Even if it’s not a good song, it’s a touching tribute to a fallen friend. The beat to this song sounds similar to Justin Timberlake’s what Goes Around from the Future Sex/Love Sounds album. The chorus is sung by Prymary Colorz, and while the effort and intention came from a good place, it’s not a great song. Speaking of Prymary Colorz, they had one album called If You Only Knew. Their eponymous single peaked at #1 on the Billboard hot singles chart, then the group disbanded in 2004. Anyway, back to the song. The lyrics are super cheesy, but again, I’m not gonna rag on this song too much because Randy’s singing from the heart, and I can’t knock the guy for that.
Final Remarks
I said, I’m not a musical expert or anything like that so I can’t really get into the nitty gritty details as to why this album has been panned. But what I do know is that this album is super cheesy and lame. On a 1-10 scale, it gets a perfect 10 on the cheesiness scale. The album shouldn’t be taken seriously, because I don’t think it was meant to. No album out there with this bad of lyrics should be taken seriously. Anyway, from an actual hip hop/rap scale, it gets a 2. The tribute song to Mr. Perfect was touching albeit not great, and the title track was a hilarious diss track, but yeah. The beats, the lyrics, everything on this album reeked of mediocrity and was a skid mark on the legacy of one of the greatest wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots.
Breaking It Down With DKown 