Puff Daddy: Forever

It is sometimes said that each decade and generation gets the musical superstars they deserve. So it's perhaps appropriate that the tacky, glossy, irony-free late '90s should be afflicted with Puff Daddy, a capable producer but the wackest rapper to have crossed over this side of Gerardo. Puff Daddy claimed that his solo debut would be his last album, but four million units and several MIA big-name rappers on his label later, he's back with another record that's destined to make its presence felt whether anyone likes it or not. The sad thing about Forever is that it could have been a good album: In terms of production, it's far above average, and its many guests—Puff Daddy could easily field a full softball scrimmage using only artists who appear on Forever—generally acquit themselves nicely. But Forever has one giant, glaring Achilles' heel in Puff Daddy's rapping. There are a few decent tracks here, but the songs that aren't terrible work mainly in spite of Puff Daddy's rapping, not because of it. The super-kinetic Twista collaboration "Is This The End (Part Two)," for example, would probably be a lot more listenable were someone to erase Puffy's vocal and replace him with just about anyone else, including Candyman, Paperboy, Dee Dee King, Brian Austin Green, Skee-Lo, Positive K, or the aforementioned Gerardo. Similarly, the obligatory Jay-Z duet, "Do You Like It… Do You Want It" would make for a decent Jay-Z song if it weren't for Puff Daddy's charmless flossing. Alternating pathetic attempts at gangsta rap with self-pity and irritating money-grubbing, Forever doesn't really hit its nadir until its next-to-last track, "Best Friend," a gloppy shout-out to Puffy's best homey Jesus Christ that's so syrupy and overproduced, it makes "I'll Be Missing You" sound like a lost Robert Johnson song.