Ying Yang Twins

Just when you want to write them off and banish them to the novelty oblivion where acts like Tag Team reside, the always-partying Ying Yang Twins come up with an undissable track and a collection of remixes that equals anything the underground mixtape world could have coughed up. "Halftime" is the new banger; a totally unexpected epic that grinds slowly, incorporates a marching band, and builds a stop-start tension of which you'd never think these over-the-top jokers were capable. It's a fantastic intro to this collection, a collection that's a little too skimpy when you drop one of the redundant "Salt Shaker" remixes. The "Extended Remix" of the massive hit is an endurance test for the noncrunk at eight and a half minutes, but its robotic riff (crunk-tech?) always deserved this stretching. Here it allows no less than eight guests to freestyle as its grand running time makes it crunk's "Autobahn" or "Freebird." Fantastic, but skip the short edit placed right in front of it since it's too similar. The other hits from Me & My Brother -- "Whats Happnin!" and "Naggin" -- are missing but not missed when all the other goodies are considered. The remix of "Me and My Brother" is filthy, slurred crunk of the highest order and Juvenile's catchy-as-hell "Slow Motion" is a desirable bonus with the Twins offering one of their nastiest raps. "In da Club" -- no relation to the 50 Cent hit -- is another fantastic choice since Yonnie's Ashanti-esque voice rattling off porno talk while the Yangs' "huh?" and "what?" make it every Southern hood rat's anthem. The guest-filled collection beats their regular releases, since the filler is minimal and the duo generally works best bouncing off others. Unless they're growing by leaps and bounds, the idea-filled "Halftime" could just be a fluke for the limited band, but they're always fun and a welcome addition to any party. [My Brother & Me was initially released with a bonus DVD including three videos and some live appearances. It was also released in a clean version, with all explicit material removed.] ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide