Review Summary: This is what happens when a rapper leaves all the material he didn't want on his album to the label after he leaves.
When I was just getting into the Midwestern rapper Tech N9ne, I was getting everything I could find that had to do with him. Every album he had put out and every album that was released through his label,
Strange Music, I was listening to it.
Celsius was one of the last Tech-related things I had that I had not listened to, and once I finally did I could really only think one thing of it; this isn't Tech N9ne. I mean sure, it's his voice, his flow, and his delivery, but the album as a whole just isn't him. The reason for that being, this isn't really Tech's album in the first place, it's Don Juan's. After Tech left his label, Midwestside Records, he decided he hadn't gotten enough money off of Mr. N9ne, so (to the displeasure of Tech) this album was released under Tech's name as a cash grab.
By a glance at the cover you could even tell that this isn't the Tech we know. Cars, Diamonds, all that show-off stuff that he was never about. You're not going to find much of anything he's about on this album. There's none of his classic psycho demeanor, intense beats and lyrical content, nothing that set him apart from the herd of commercial rappers like there was on his previous album,
Anghellic. This album is boring, trite, basically everything his fans wouldn't expect from him. However, Tech himself isn't completely watered down in his performance. His flow is easily the best part of the album, on songs like
Mizery and
Be Warned you still see glimpses of the real Tech, the latter being completely different from the rest of the album. The beat is as cheesy and uninteresting as the rest, but Tech is bringing his A-game in terms of the rapid-fire lyricism he's known for. No other song on the album is as interesting/entertaining as this one, but of course it only clocks in at just over two minutes.
Other than
Be Warned, there's just no standouts. None of the beats are very noteworthy at all, all either trying to go hard and failing (
Boss Doggs) or trying to be smooth and failing (
Call Girlz). None of the production is ever anything more than irritating, and the same can be said for the choruses. They range from average to awful, mostly awful. The amount of repetition is mind numbing, especially in
Shoot Tha *** which is just about half-hook. Tech's flow is the only source of creativity anywhere on this album( and even that's not consistent), because his lyrics and their content sure aren't supplying any. It's exactly what you'd expect from an album that's sole purpose for release was money; sex and bragging. It's not like Tech can't make that work, but apparently his was before he knew how to. Predictable rhymes and generic schemes make for a painfully boring listening experience.
It makes sense that Tech's worst release isn't even his own album. Hell, he isn't even on three of the songs! Even still, he did what he could to spice up an otherwise all around awful album with his usually superb rapping abilities, but it just wasn't enough to save
Celsius from extreme mediocrity. I doubt even hardcore Tech N9ne fans would enjoy this very much (aside from
Be Warned of course). In fact, if anyone would like this album, it's people that don't like Tech much otherwise because this isn't anything you've heard from him before. He's not his usual insane self, in fact he exhibited one of the most sane choices of his career with this album; he didn't want it released.
