Deliverance
by Bubba Sparxxx
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Stylus Magazine
    95
    In a year that’s produced first-rate albums by OutKast and Lucinda Williams, Bubba, a self-proclaimed redneck from rural Georgia who most people pegged as a probable one-hit wonder three years ago, has beaten the odds and made both the hip-hop and country album of the year.
  2. Spin
    91
    For the juke-joint blues of “Jimmy Mathis” and the breezy mountain song “Comin Round,” he takes old-school-as-the-hills song forms and gussies them up for the club.
  3. PopMatters
    90
    He and his producers have constructed a monument to this New New New South. And you don't really have to believe in it in order to appreciate what a great record this is.
  5. Launch.com
    90
    Offering musical redemption for the New South's old hang-ups, Deliverance delivers.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    A sober rumination about life in the poor, white, rural South. [3 Oct 2003, p.72]
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  7. Vibe
    80
    Sparxxx has now crafted a gem, thanks to improved songwriting and nimble production. [Nov 2003, p.157]
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  8. Uncut
    80
    An album that is as poignant as it is over the top. [Oct 2003, p.118]
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  9. Q Magazine
    80
    It's when Bubba stays with his Southern roots... that he really shines. [Oct 2003, p.100]
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  10. Billboard
    80
    Sparxxx proves he's upgraded his whip-quick flow.
  11. The A.V. Club
    80
    Mixes hip-hop and country with ease and grace.
  12. Blender
    80
    Sparxxx is no producer's creation. His lexicon is deep, his diction clear and his words resolute. [Sep 2003, p.130]
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  13. AllMusic
    80
    Sure, his collaborators have some of the best beats in the business. But they can't always take up the slack when Bubba's raps start to wither in the heat.
  14. The Guardian
    80
    An intense, brooding piece of work.
  15. Village Voice
    70
    If Eminem is hip-hop's Elvis, then Bubba is its Gregg Allman, the white boy embraced by lowdown Little Africa, especially fellow musicians.
  16. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    The album has a coherency that was absent first time around, and there is also a rattling freshness to the sound that Timbaland has rustled up.
  17. Rolling Stone
    70
    A few of the honky-tonk touches -- such as the corny country crooning on "My Baby's Gone" -- feel like gimmicks. But Sparxxx's lyrics are no shtick.
  18. Splendid
    50
    I can respect the need to innovate in hip-hop, but variety here comes at a cost -- there's no coherent or consistent melodic through-line.

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Best Album of 2003
51
#51 Most Shared Album of 2003

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. miltonl
    Oct 28, 2003
    10
    I love it since people say i look like him and i began liking his music
  2. BIGMAN22
    Jul 15, 2015
    10
    a very well made album by an underrated artist. one of the few mainstream artists that doesn't talk bout degrading material all the time. Ia very well made album by an underrated artist. one of the few mainstream artists that doesn't talk bout degrading material all the time. I don't know many artists that are great at country rap. I must say bubba is one of the best. this another one of my favorite albums by him. love all the work he's been making. has never disappointed me.… Full Review »
  3. idiotwind13
    Jul 14, 2013
    10
    Bubba Sparxxx is, quite simply, the most underrated artist in the history of hip hop. The lack of exposure this album got is nearly criminal.Bubba Sparxxx is, quite simply, the most underrated artist in the history of hip hop. The lack of exposure this album got is nearly criminal. I guess he is occupying a strange space sonically, mixing country and rap and calling it "hick hop", you are going to alienate a lot of country fans by having all the rapping and beats and a lot of hip hop fans with all the country twang. If this album had come out in 2012 instead of 2003 I think it would have done a lot better, music distribution and discovery (via services like Spotify and Pandora) would have gotten it into the ears of a lot more people who would have loved it before they even had a chance to try to put a label on it.
    Teaming with Timbaland and a variety of artists from country singers to other MC's, Bubba put out what is probably the most honest album I have ever heard in any genre or era. He is at the peak of his powers here, matured from "Dark Days, Bright Nights", and not yet gun shy from the lack of commercial success from "Deliverance", which is how you get to "The Charm". While both those albums are (in my opinion) solid in their own right, here he shies away from absolutely nothing, and makes the album that he wants to make, the one that is musically who he is. He's unapologetic about the unlikely pairing of sounds because that's what makes sense to him. Lyrically this is by far his best album, and as on all his albums, his flow is unimpeachable, one of the most agile dudes on the mic you will ever hear.
    I guess my point is that if you are reading this and have never listened to "Deliverance", go buy it, right now and listen to it all the way through about a dozen times. I simply can't fathom how anybody who is at all a fan of hip hop would not love this album. It literally changed the way that I listen to music.    … Full Review »
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