ing Yang Twins’ “Wait (The Whisper Song)” is, musically, a masterpiece of minimalism surpassing even “Drop It Like It’s Hot”: just an 808 bassline, some finger snapping, and the Twins literally whispering the song’s filthy, filthy lyrics (along with what sounds like a Linn drum cymbal pattern on the bridge). “Hey bitch, wait till you see my dick, I’m’a beat that pussy up” is so ridiculously obscene as to cease being vulgar and become purely ludicrous. The intent behind the line isn’t violent, it’s fiercely confident. It’s well worth noting that on U.S.A., “Wait” is immediately preceded by the “Sex Therapy 101” skit in which the last woman to speak says, “I likes a freak, I like a motherfucker who’s sharp, got his shit together … [who will] put his lips up to my ear and whisper exactly what he wants from me.” And then “Wait” begins, and Kaine and D-Roc do exactly what she wants.

Y’all might as well get past this whisper shit ‘cause we gon’ be doin’ this shit, ‘cause we started it! We can do that! Now everybody else, y’all need to get the fuck on with that shit, but Collipark, Mr. Collipark started the whisper shit. So just let that shit go and let us do us.
- Mr. Collipark, on “Dedication & Upcoming Events (Skit)”

Obviously, that means there’s more of “this whisper shit” to come, but it came first and most importantly from Ying Yang Twins (and obviously, their producer, Mr. Collipark). Until this year, they were strictly B-list in the hip-hop world, makers of dirty south crunk anthems who’d seemingly been around forever but somehow got lapped by Lil’ Jon in turning crunk into gold. They’d done okay for themselves; they’re on Jon’s classic “Get Low” and followed it up with their own hit “Salt Shaker,” and have a couple of gold albums to their name. But “Wait” takes them to a whole new level, to the big leagues; it’s been ensconced in the top 5 of Billboard’s R&B singles chart for over a month now, and the Twins were able to get A-listers Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott (alongside Lil Scrappy and Free) to appear on the song’s remix (which is tacked on at album’s end and is nearly as good as the original, thanks chiefly to Busta’s great verse).

Not to mention that they got some more A-listers to lace U.S.A. with vocals: Avant’s on the late-‘80s R&B throwback “Bedroom Boom” (he’s just as nasty as Ying Yang Twins are), and Anthony Hamilton interpolates Al Green’s “Belle” on “Long Time” (that’s what you’d call a perfect pairing of a singer and what he’s singing—or in Hamilton’s case, sanging). Bizarrely, Maroon5’s Adam Levine takes choral duties on “Live Again,” which is about a stripper trying to make a better life for herself. Really. [Reportedly, the Twins met Levine at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards and told him, basically, “We dig you, wanna sing on our record?”] Less important than the names on the tracks, though, is the fact that they’re pretty good. Hamilton can make any song better just by singing on it—he even makes Nick Cannon’s current single tolerable, how about that?—and “Long Time” is no exception, but it’s not just him; it’s also the churchy keyboards in the back of the track and its soulful vibe. “Live Again,” perversely, has a bit of a strip-club beat to it, but is a sincere, heartfelt song, kind of a “Keep Ya Head Up” to the strippers of the world. They’re shooting for a Keith Sweat feel on “Bedroom Boom,” and while it’s much more profane than a Keith Sweat record, it succeeds. G’s will be baby-makin’ to this song.

Social concerns get their turn here, too. “23 Hr. Lock Down,” featuring Bun B of UGK, concerns the plight of his partner in rhyme, Pimp C, who’s currently serving a three-year jail term. “Ghetto Classics” utilizes some superbly-placed samples from the Art of Noise’s “Beat Box” in its anti-violence plea, and also features a great, tossed-off line: “Like Michael Jackson [said], they don’t care about us.” Make no mistake, Kaine and D-Roc can rap. You won’t mistake them for T.I. or Scarface, but they’ve got some lyrics.

Things lag a bit near the album’s end—the would-be crunk anthem “The Walk” seems to exist largely to big-up new signings to the Twins’ and Collipark’s labels, but is saved by BG’s song-closing turn at the mic, “Hoes” features C-lister Jacki-O (the K-mart version of Trina, basically), and “Put That Thang Down” sounds like it’s got a leftover Lil Jon beat (he produced it) thrown the Twins’ way at the last minute—but the Pitbull-featuring “Shake” helps. It’s destined to become a strip-club anthem at the least, and a new dirty south anthem at most, and features a delightfully weird sample from George Kranz’s “Din Daa Daa.” The production throughout the album, largely helmed by Mr. Collipark, in fact almost never succumbs to the easy crunk/dirty south clichés. Like the album itself, this is an interesting listen. It doesn’t always succeed, but it most definitely exceeds expectations. Sometimes that’s plenty, but U.S.A. offers even more.