Black Rob, “Celebration”

“I’ma show ‘em how the summertime represent/ Fresh out of confinement,” raps Black Rob on “Celebration.” After finishing a four-year prison sentence for armed robbery in 2010, he certainly has a reason to party. But there’s an unacknowledged nostalgia to this Harlem rapper’s first single in six years. With its string-laden, disco-sampling beat from producer The A3 and a hook by singer Breyan Isaac, “Celebration” sounds almost proudly dated, as if Black Rob were trying to recapture his Bad Boy Records salad days -- a time when he rocked NYC nightclubs with 2000’s “Whoa!,” a memorable hit of the jiggy-rap era. He describes barbecues and block parties with images of dancing in the “Soul Train” line, Puerto Rican Day parades, and playing dominoes and the bongos. “When I see the smiling faces it’s a break from the norm,” he raps. And though Black Rob can’t quite deliver a full-fledged comeback with his just-released full-length on indie stalwart Duck Down Records, Game Tested, Streets Approved, he shines once more on “Celebration.” -- Mosi Reeves

"Celebration" Black Rob