Block Music is the second solo studio album by American rapper Shawnna. It was released on June 6, 2006 on Def Jam South Recordings and Disturbing tha Peace. Production was handled by several record producers, including Vudu, 110% Pure, Chucky Thompson, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Salaam Remi. It features guest appearances from Buddy Guy, Ludacris, Avant, Bobby V, I-20, Johnny P., Lil Wayne, Malik Yusef, Pharrell Williams, Shareefa, Smoke of Field Mob, Syleena Johnson, Too Short, 8Ball & MJG. The album peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, "Gettin' Some", was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Critical reception
Block Music garnered positive reviews from
Music journalism praising Shawnna's improvement as a rapper in terms of lyrical content and tonal delivery. Andy Kellman of
AllMusic gave high praise to Shawnna's ability to portray different emotions and deliver topics with complex writing over energetic production, saying that, "With a surprising level of depth and a more complementary set of productions,
Block Music makes
Worth tha Weight – a decent album in its own right – seem like a clumsy warm-up."
Alvin Blanco of
XXL also commended Shawnna for side-stepping her usual sex-filled braggadocio to reveal more introspective material delivered in both hard-hitting and soft-spoken styles, concluding that "Offering up more of herself this go-round, Shawnna shows considerable growth. Maybe now she can finally get some… props."
contributor Quentin B. Huff wrote: "Shawnna's song arrangement effectively binds the various topics of her tunes because she's convincing. Sure, there's some posturing and, yeah, she's exaggerating reality a bit. But, just like the movies, where you know an actor or actress isn't performing all the stunts, the trick is to make you suspend your disbelief. And in this regard, Shawnna plays her part with gusto while demonstrating that, sometimes, you get more than what you see."
Conversely, Steve 'Flash' Juon of
RapReviews was unimpressed by Shawnna's lyrics consisting of "every major gangster rap cliche" over quality beats, concluding that: "There's nothing profound about "Block Music" other than how profoundly
UNENJOYABLE I found listening to it to be. In fact I think the only enjoyment one could find out of this album would be that if you got horny enough you could masturbate to Shawnna's pictures – that's about it."
graded the album as a "dud",
indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."
Track listing
Charts
External links
