Big's previous solo and "Speakerboxxx" were both great and he has the proven ability to change his style at will. Even if you don't dig this (I'm still figuring it out) this is hardly a permanent indicator of what he's capable of.

Also, the irony here is that apparently it was Andre that made Big go in this direction anyway (by telling him "You still doing this funk shit?" when he heard some of the tracks Big was working on post-SLLF). So if this is a lesser effort than his previous one, maybe it's not entirely on him.