Last year, Detroit emcee Boog Brown teamed up with producer Apollo Brown to create the full length album, The Brown Study. She had released a few mixtapes previously, but this served as her first proper album and an introduction to a larger fan base. While her notoriety has grown, a lot of people still haven’t realized her talent yet. To re-introduce herself before her next album is ready, we get a full length remix album of The Brown Study.

As with any remix album, there are a couple factors that determine it’s success. First is the original material. Brown is a confident emcee, and she really opened up on The Brown Study to tell some personal tales. Overall, her work was a great success. Unfortunately, she does have a tendency to fall back on some ignorant name calling. As much as I want there to be more female emcees succeeding, it’s just as harmful when a woman on the mic calls out ‘bitches’ and ‘pussies’ that have done her wrong as when a male emcee does it. “Friends Like These” with Kam Moye is the worst example of this. There are plenty of good lyrics discussing trouble with people stabbing her in the back, but calling out these women’s actions would be much stronger if she didn’t refer to them as bitches or hoes. It only compounds the problem when producer Amdex gets on the mic and starts talking about a “groupie slut” that has done him wrong. I hate having to confront this, because there is so much to like with Brown, and I feel like she’s capable of great things. Because of that, though, we need to acknowledge this shortcoming.

The other contributing factor to the remix album is the new producers working with Brown’s rhymes. We get eleven producers on the album, including Apollo Brown giving us one new track that was not on The Brown Study. “Detroit,” the new song, is a beautiful and moving song dedicated to a city going through a turbulent time. We also get other label mates such as Has-Lo, Dunc from DTMD, Def Dee, and Georgia Anne Muldrow. Then there’s the grab bag of Nick Da 1Da, MarvWon, 14KT, Amdex, Illastrate, and Audible Doctor. Nobody does a bad job, although I was disappointed with MarvWon’s work on “Friction,” which isn’t nearly as hard hitting as the original track, and no longer features the great trio of Detroit women with Invincible and Miz Korona joining Brown on the mic, but instead he adds his own verse, which is not on the level of these women. Has-Lo probably does the most with very little, taking a short intro track in “Marinate,” and stretching it out into a meditative, introspective song that closes out the remix album very nicely. Def Dee does an amazing job by subtly taking a strong song in “Blink,” and just tweaking it enough to make it the standout track of the record, with huge drum hits and a blaring horn sample that will be sure to get people on the dance floor. Georgia Anne Muldrow’s remix of “My Love,” might be the most interesting reinterpretation, taking what was a gentle love song with R&B vocals on the original, and placing the lyrics over a more aggressive beat. It’s an intriguing power shift when she does this, no longer making Brown seem quite so vulnerable, instead shifting the focus onto the subject of the lyrics.

While there are strengths and weaknesses to this album, I feel like there is more to like than to dislike. We get treated to a roster of talented producers trying their hand at complimenting an talented young emcee, and it’s enjoyable. I just hope that Brown is able to keep pushing herself as an emcee and that she doesn’t allow herself to take the easy way out in the future, because I think some great hip hop is in her future.