AMG Review of By Any Means Necessary

Jason Birchmeier
All Music Guide

One of the most promising Dirty South rappers to emerge from the underground during the early 2000s, Pastor Troy nonetheless struggled to retain his footing from album to album after making the major-label leap. By Any Means Necessary is yet more evidence of that. As always, Troy puts in a stellar showing lyrically. He's a thoughtful, personable, and caring rapper who somehow eschews formal cliché without abandoning the essence of his genre (i.e., the crunker side of Dirty South). And his very distinctive voice is a trademark, especially when he overdubs his "uh-huh!"s and "come on!"s. The usual problems arise here, though. Troy may indeed be a gifted rapper, but he's not an especially gifted songwriter. The themes of his songs are rote (a scan of the track titles says it all), and his hooks are ho-hum. If anything, you're captivated by his lyrics and his delivery, not the songs themselves.