He may be on the Cash Money label and Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, and Three 6 Mafia may all make appearances on this sophomore effort, but producer/singer/songwriter Kevin Rudolf remains much more pop and rock than hip-hop on To the Sky despite industry packaging.
Even dance music seems more important than hip-hop on this often club-oriented album, but the opening “I Made It” is the traditional “I made it” anthem so many rappers use to kick the door down which Rudolf's got on lock, right down to mentioning your record label and quoting your previous hit (“I told ya “Let It Rock”/And now money’s falling down from the sky”).
From here the album goes through a few rotations of “made it” songs, heartache songs, and party starters before closing with “Crashing Down,” a rainy day soul searcher that’s so ‘80s-flavored you could pass it off as Mister Mister or Sting right after he went solo.
Keeping the tedium at bay is Rudolf’s always dynamic production and his generally good songwriting -- the hackneyed “play guitar”/”go far” rhyme in “Big Timer” being a low point -- along a guest list that calls upon Three 6 Mafia for some much-appreciated sleaze and Lil Wayne for some much-needed wordplay.
Rivers Cuomo is here, too, but the Weezer frontman brings none of his usual wit to the rather everyday “Must Be Dreamin’.” A mixed bag for fans to sort through, but without a worthy “Let It Rock” successor, this is hard to recommend over his debut.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)Dwayne Carter, Kevin Rudolf, Jay Sean | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | You Make the Rain FallKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 02:53 | 6 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Don't CryKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 22 MB |
| 4 | Whatchu Waiting ForKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Big TimerKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | I Belong to You (Lany)Kevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 7 | Must Be Dreamin'Kevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 03:03 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 8 | Spit in Your FaceDwayne Carter, Kevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 9 | What Do U GotKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 03:29 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Late Night AutomaticKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 02:46 | 6 MB | 21 MB |
| 11 | Crashing DownKevin Rudolf | Kevin Rudolf | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| 37 mins | 85 MB | |||||
| 37 mins | 295 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Berkman | A&R, Engineer |
| 2 | Birdman | Featured Artist |
| 3 | Michael "Banger" Cadahia | Engineer |
| 4 | Dwayne Carter | Composer, Executive Producer |
| 5 | Dorian Crozier | Drums |
| 6 | Rivers Cuomo | Featured Artist |
| 7 | Flo Rida | Featured Artist |
| 8 | Chris Gehringer | Mastering |
| 9 | Serban Ghenea | Mixing |
| 10 | Jeff Halatrax | Producer |
| 11 | Edward "Jewfro" Lidow | Assistant Engineer |
| 12 | Lil Wayne | Featured Artist, Guitar |
| 13 | Nabil | Photography |
| 14 | Tim Roberts | Mixing Assistant |
| 15 | Kevin Rudolf | Composer, Engineer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 16 | Fareed Salamah | Engineer |
| 17 | Jay Sean | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 18 | Ron Taylor | Digital Editing |
| 19 | Three 6 Mafia | Featured Artist |
| 20 | Bryan Williams | Executive Producer |
| 21 | Ronald "Slim Tha Don" Williams | Executive Producer |
| 22 | Ryan Wilson | Art Direction |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |