My Obsession

I have a new obsession and his name is B.O.B.

He’s seemingly attractive, andhis looks are not the only thing that has me clutching my iTouch as I run down the stairs towards the subway.

I’m not a hip-hop fanatic, most of what I know comes from the simple fact that I live in New York, loved Nas as a kid, my brother is “true hip-hop’s” biggest fan, and I took a hip-hop class to fulfill my Arts Gen-Ed requirement sophomore year.

B.O.B. came into my life out of the blue while I was searching through my cousins computer. I came upon his album, added it to my iPod, and since then it’s been love.

The Adventures of Bobby Ray, which was released in April of this year, is a unique collection of songs that you will either love, hate, or not understand.

I became his biggest fan after watching Janelle Monae’s video for the remix to ‘Tightrope,’ which features B.O.B. and Lupe Fiasco. Wearing all white and a sailors hat, he looks his all time best. And in my opinion, the remix would have been a total fail without his verse.

(Check out the video below)

Besides for his good looks and impressive rhymes, B.O.B. demonstrates his singing voice on several songs on his album, including my favorite, "Lovelier Than You," an almost-ballad with one rap verse towards the end, that describes his love for his lady, as he sings“I could never find a lovelier design than you.”

Below is a video of him performing "Lovelier Than You" at Jimmy Kimmel Live.

After watching one of his earlier videos from 2008, it is hard to believe that this is really B.O.B. The rapper, whose real name is Bobby Ray Simmons, has been compared to the likes of Andre 3000 (of OutKast) and Lupe Fiasco. In the video "I'll Be In The Sky," Andre... I mean Bobby Ray shows off his musical skill, he can play the piano, sing and rap. A multi-talented southern rap artist who isn't solely selling albums, making good beats, and doing the batman... B.O.B. is a contender for... well... a title I just made up "a real hip-hop artist." And I like the sound of that, I like it a lot.

... clearly I'm a B.O.B. fan.

Coco Elle