Oy Oy Oy

Me Phi Me's debut album, One has been widely hailed as an alternative hip hop sound--alternative, maybe, in the sense that it is bland. And complementing the weak folk-new age-hip hop fusion are weak vocals. More serious than the bad music, the bad rapping makes the album hard to get through.

From the group's name to the opening "step" to various references to the Greek system throughout the album. One abounds with fraternity images--perhaps all the more reason for Harvard to keep frats off campus.

The smoothest the group's sound gets is in the first single on the album, "Sad New Day." Acoustic guitars accompany tepid raps and a silly chorus.

The opening of "Black Sunshine" is emblematic of the choppy, bland rhymes which populate the album: "This old box is all I own/I call it home/ I live life like an animal/ It's not understandable." There is nothing original about the lyrics, and the vocals are devoid of style.

You'd think there'd be one good song on One. At least this group, which hails from the great state of Tennessee, is consistently shallow.