"Cocaine is a powerful drug." No shit, Rick! For a while, it seemed as if the sublime musical legacy of the Superfreak would forever be eclipsed by the 12 hours he spent skied out of his brain sodomizing a groupie with a crack pipe ("it's a celebration, bitches"). Fortunately, the now-legendary Chapelle Show sketch brought James back into the pop-culture spotlight, and has inspired Cosmo Baker and Eleven to tear through the entire back catalog of James' hits, obscurities, collabos and production work on this new mix CD. Punctuated by tight scratches and doubling, not to mention soundbites from Chapelle and Charlie Murphy ("DARKNESS!") themselves, the highlights include the Mary Jane Girls' party classic "All Night Long," Rick's "Give It To Me Baby" and my personal favorite Teena Marie's "I'm A Sucker For Your Love." Cosmo and Eleven also connect James' classics to more recent jams with "Mary Jane" (aka Redman's "Smoke Buddah") and a great megamix of "Cold Blooded" that blends the original with the cover version by ODB -- no stranger to the pipe himself. All obvious comedy value aside, this disc is a very solid listen, and a great reminder of just how good a funk and R&B songwriter Rick actually was. "Now come and smoke with your boy Rick James - the stickiest of the icky."

reviewed by Nick Catchdubs