The chill of autumn descends, but don't tell Badboss!  The self-proclaimed ‘pop rap phenom’ from The Bronx has distilled the best of a modern day, beach blanket bingo summer into his impressive debut release, Fun Under the Sun - and he wants to keep the party rocking all year long.  Bagging digits, hitting the club, foot fetishes: they're all in the mix.  Badboss takes the innocent wanderlust of License To Ill-era Beastie Boys (minus the misogyny) and combines it with the crisp smart flow of Kanye West (minus the crass commercialism).  The result is a party-starting album that doesn't quit.

Badboss stays true to his pop-rap roots with a club-ready track like "We in the Club".  Beat-wise, you can hear all his influences: Flo-Rida, N-Sync, Souljah Boy Tell ‘Em and MC Hammer.  Yes... MC Hammer.  At seventeen years old, Badboss can give a 2L2Q shout out free of irony.  And why not?  Hammer filled seats and they weren't buying tickets just to see the parachute pants - the man was a showman!  Badboss may be young, but he knows what makes the world go round: sex, fun, and sexy fun.

Fun Under the Sun earns points for its overall clean production.  With the pervasive accessibility of high-end digital production programs, over-eager artists tend to fill empty spaces on tracks with cheap audio clutter.  Badboss shows good judgment in keeping the sound neat, reminiscent of the spare precision of an Aftermath joint.  On the other hand, the album loses points for subpar vocal cameos.  Most of the fill-in rappers go uncredited, and for good reason!  The only notable cameo is Trends (of VH1 reality show I Love New York fame) who delivers an enjoyable - if oily - Snoop sermon on "She's a Hot Body".

Party animalism aside, Sam Massey, the teenager behind the Badboss persona, has created a surprisingly mature album.  He knows how to write a catchy pop rap ditty.  If he can string together an entire album of hot tracks like "Ima Bag Her Digits" and "Video Chat," the ‘Boss will blow up and be on the tips of more tongues than good Ecstasy.

MP3 Stream: "Ima Bag Her Digits"