Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 12/10/2012 at 5:33 PM News

The Popdust Files: b.o.b, upcoming albums

It turns out that B.o.B. is basically just a teenager in a Twisted Sister video after all. After releasing his second album Strange Clouds earlier this year, Bobby Ray has expressed an eagerness to switch gears on his upcoming effort, a yet-untitled EP that the rapper/guitarist (MTV‘s phrase, not ours) says will be a more rock-oriented affair. (Apparently this was already promised in Strange Clouds‘ “Ray Bands,” where he rapped “I don’t pop bottles, I got pop dollars / And after Strange Clouds, I’ma drop my rock album,” so bad on us for not digging into his prophetic deep cuts to see this coming.)

“I’ve been holding back so much rock for so long,” says B.o.B. of the switch-up. (Again, MTV’s itals, not ours.) “I have been performing with my band for a while, so I guess this is a real good canvas for me to paint on…No one’s really expecting anything so I can do what I want to do.” True for any number of reasons, really.

Anyway, this should be interesting, since the only rock we know of to come from Bobby so far is that Vampire Weekend sample on his debut and T.I.’s allusion on Drake’s “Fancy” to how a woman “play these suckers just like B.o.B. play the guitar,” later sampled on Ray’s own “Play the Guitar.” The whole rap thing was getting a little stale anyway—Strange Clouds sold what, 76k in its first week? Downwards trending for sure, so perhaps strapping on a Fender Stratocaster and digging for some good Lynyrd Skynyrd samples is the answer towards reversing that.