AMG Review of Unrestricted [Clean]

John Bush
All Music Guide

Poising herself halfway between knowing sexual object and vengeful love goddess, Da Brat rages through her third album, constructing wonderfully dense raps and delivering them with skill and panache. There is a bit more R&B on Unrestricted than Da Brat fans will expect, but given the rapper's uncompromising stance, it never feels like a sellout. Check her hometown salute "Chi-Town" and "Pink Lemonade," and her double team (with R&B singer Kelly Price) on the spurned-love story "Runnin' Out of Time." Producer Jermaine Dupri spreads the synthesizer strings a bit too thick but shows his beats are among the best of the major super-producers on the block. [Unrestricted is also available in a clean version.]