This epic follow-up to 2009’s debut solo set from Pasadena producer and multi-instrumentalist Damon “Dam-Funk” Riddick lasts almost as long as its six-year gestation period. As the man who plucked Snoop Dogg from the cod-reggae abyss, Riddick’s G-funk credentials are unimpeachable. With bass lines fat enough for their own Channel 5 documentary and the squelchiest keyboards since the Gap Band last played underwater, he has certainly put his apprenticeship as a West Coast rap session player to good use. But ear-catching cameos from Snoop, Ariel Pink and Ohio Player Walter “Junie” Morrison can’t allay concerns that Riddick lacks the star quality that separates the game changer from the journeyman.
