A father/son conversation on “I Want to Be Like You” values family and promotes respect for elders. It also puts stock in a good education, as do “Game” and “When I Get Grown.” On the latter, this 11-year-old thanks his parents for their love, advocates gainful employment, ponders the afterlife, and concludes, “There must be more to life than jewelry and cars.” A guest on “What” proclaims, “I get my point across with no curses at all.”
There’s a distinct sense that Lil’ Romeo is a gangsta-in-training. Without explicit content, he boasts quite often about being a ladies’ man and having the finest cars. He ogles a girl on “Little Star” (“You [are] hot from your feet to your braids/. . . Move that thing”). He talks of being a lovable thug (“The Girlies”) and threatens anyone tempted to mess with him (“Don’t Want To”).
This son of hard-core rapper Master P hints at his artistic future when he raps, “By the time I’m 18 I’m not gon’ be nothin’ nice.” So why introduce young R&B fans to him now? Don’t be suckered by gangsta-lite.
