*Songs contain explicit content listen at your own risk
B.o.B’s second studio album was released on April 27,2012. The album itself didn’t gain much publicity and is somewhat undiscovered. Even though the album contains several guest artists which include: Morgan Freeman (yes, I typed that in correctly),Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, T.I., Nicki Minaj, Ryan Tedder, Lauriana Mae, Playboy Tre, and Trey Songz. The album had the talent to preform. The album had three Billboard Hot 100 placements and they all appeared in the top 20. The highest peaking song was the title track, Strange Clouds, which finished at #7. The other two songs that placed in the chart included So Good peaking at #11 and Both Of Us peaked at #18 with the help of Taylor Swift. On Billboard 200 the album finished at spot #5 which was slightly worse than his debut album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, that peaked at the top spot. After the success of his first album (including hit singles Airplanes, Magic and Nothin’ On You) he had to come back with even more. He included even more stars in his songs and after just two albums he had worked with the likes of Eminem, Lupe Fiasco, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Janelle Monay, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz, Chris Brown, T.I., and more. Strange Clouds has an interesting group of songs which fits its name of “strange” and even before writing my final thoughts on the album I can say I love it.
15. Out Of My Mind (feat. Nicki Minaj)
The song Out of Mind just doesn’t fit well on this album. What I mean by this is that it shouldn’t have been included in the final album. Also, I’m not a big fan of Nicki Minaj and usually I’m not fond of her music or when she’s featuring in songs, but she surprised me with her decent performance in the song, so if you want to see a miracle then check out this song.
14. Castles (feat. Trey Songz)
Castles is a very catchy song and Trey Songz does an amazing job but I just don’t understand the song. Trey Songz in the chorus says “I’m building castles in the sky” not sure what he means by this. It possibly could mean that they have so much money that they can build castles to the sky but I’m not really sure. I do enjoy the song because of its catchy chorus and decent performance from B.o.B.
13. Arena (feat. Chris Brown & T.I.)
I like the addition of T.I. and Chris Brown in this song. It adds a different touch to the song, but not one of the top songs on the album, but still not terrible.
12. Chandelier (feat. Lauriana Mae)
I personally have never heard of Lauriana Mae, but she isn’t half bad. She does a great job with the chorus and I really like B.o.B’s lyrics throughout this song. The lyrics don’t seem catchy at first but after a few listens you will remember about half of the lyrics.
11. Never Let You Go (feat. Ryan Tedder)
Never Let You Go starts off sounding like a love ballad with an acoustic guitar and as the song progresses, it slowly gets quicker until the chorus and then slows down and repeats. It really is an amazing combination. Bobby Ray is expressing his love for this girl by showing he will get rid of everything just to keep her in his life by never letting go. (See what I did there, used the title in a sentence, ha)
10. So Hard To Breathe
So Hard To Breathe is another song that starts out slow with an acoustic guitar and some backup singers and then speeds up. In this song B.o.B, expresses how hard it is to do, anything when your famous, even breathe. The fans, paparazzi, agents, friends and everyone try and steal your wealth and once you are famous all they care about is your wealth.
9. Just A Sign (feat. Playboy Tre)
Just A Sign is an interesting song where Bobby Ray and Playboy Tre express how the world is crumbling around it. It is an interesting topic that he discusses, he talks about the world being not real but overall a catchy song and I’d recommend it.
8. Play For Keeps
Play For Keeps is a song about fending for yourself. The song basically states don’t trust anyone because they will stab you in the back to beat you, that’s my take on the song anyways. I personally love this song because of its Latin reference “Veni, Vidi, Vici,” aka I came, I saw, I conquered.
7. Ray Bands
This song as a whole just amazes me, for some reason I can’t fathom that the whole song isabout his sunglasses. I love the song and is very catchy.
6. Bombs Away (feat. Morgan Freeman)
Bombs Away is always amazing before you even click the button to listen to the song. As soon as you see the name Morgan Freeman, it makes it an instant great and it didn’t disappoint. I love the beat of this song and the lyrics are amazing. Morgan Freeman just adds an extra pizzazz to the song that simply blows it out of the water (get it blows it out of the water, bombs) anyways the song is great.
5. Circles
The first time listening to this album was when I was 12 and instantly I fell in love with this song. Not sure if it’s the beginning of the song that pulls me in or just the amazing lyrics. Also the song is very relatable to mostly everyone because he states that “She Runs Circles Through My Head” and whenever you like another person that’s what they do in your head because you are thinking about them.
4. Both of Us (feat. Taylor Swift)
Personally whenever I heard this song I instantly thought it had to have been made for a movie like Hunger Games or Maze Runner or something, but no. The song is very catchy, Taylor Swift does an amazing job (but when doesn’t she), and B.o.B’s lyrics are amazing and I personally know every word of this song.
3. Strange Clouds (feat. Lil Wayne)
Strange Clouds was a song that surprised me initially. I’m not the biggest fan of Lil Wayne, never have, never will be, but I honestly liked his part in this song. It was short and got straight to the point. I remember playing this song on repeat for my entire 6th and 7th grade year. I just really like the song.
2. Where Are You (B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray)
Where Are You is a truly beautiful song. The melody with the piano and the chorus is perfect. The song is about the battle of trying to be a good person but also being famous. He talks about trying to balance family, friends, and his time with being famous an being “forced’ to leave them behind and make time for his career and his other groups of people. He also expresses once again you can’t trust anyone and that you never know who is going to stab you in the back and make you look bad. But in the end he always comes back to the melody which I think signifies the joining of his two lives, B.o.B as the rapper and Bobby Ray as a human being.
1. So Good
So Good by far is the best song on this album and got most radio play, but was well deserved. The song is so catchy and I’m sure you’ve heard it before. It may be my favorite song of his. The song talks about how he will take this girl anywhere in the world if he can call her his own. He says that she has “Had It So Good,” and that he loves her so much that he wants to give her whatever she wants. It’s just an amazing song and I’d give it a 10/10.
As I said in the introduction, this album is simply amazing and I love it! B.o.B is one of the most under-rated musical artists of this era. He doesn’t get much credit for his talent so I thought I’d give him some credit. He is the only rapper that I can think of that can rap, sing, play the guitar and play the piano (Okay Post Malone can probably but… he’s Post Malone and I don’t consider Post Malone a “rapper”). As you can expect, I highly recommend checking this album out even if you aren’t someone that particularly enjoys Hip Hop/Rap music.