Get To Know H.E.R.

So, I realize that I said that on usual weeks new album reviews will be done on Tuesday and Saturday. However, this week is great (or not. we’ll see.) in that there were three review worthy albums released yesterday, the first of which, Tha Carter III, I’ve reviewed already (I realize that Plies released an album as well, but who cares). Only two more to go!

Just some quick background info on this record before we start. …And Justice For All is Little Brother’s fourth official album (fifth if you wanna count Chittlin Circuit 1.5) and the second after the departure of superproducer 9th Wonder. Most of the tracks on the album were actually released already before on a Mick Boogie mixtape of the same name. Apparently fans liked them so much that they asked the group to officially release the tracks without a DJ screaming over them. And so, with a couple of new tracks added on, …And Justice For All: The Album was born. So, how does it live up to the rest of their discography (which I must say is superb)? Hopefully well enough to get Lollipop out of my head. Here’s to wishful thinking.

1. Can’t Stop Us (ft Chaundon) - No intro here. The album jumps straight into a pretty good track to start off with.

2. Delusional (ft Oddissee) - I could’ve done without the singing hook, but its not long enough to really affect the track much. Solid.

3. Life Of The Party remix (ft Skillz and Carlitta Durand) - Phonte and Skillz are in my top 5 southern rappers of all time so this track had to at least be good. That being said, I do wish the beat was a little better and that Skillz got a longer verse.

4. Best Kept Secret (ft Legacy) - This is the track Skillz should’ve been on. Not that Legacy does a bad job here at all, but Skillz would’ve killed it.

5. Do It To Death (ft Rhymefest and Supastition) - The beat is pretty damn weak here. Maybe I’ll try to mix the vocals over a different track because the rappers actually come correct here. Freaking beat.

6. A Word From Our Sponsors (ft Von Pea) - Phonte has slowly but surely risen through my list of favorite rappers and really he deserves it. He’s supposed to drop another Foreign Exchange album sometime this year so look out for it. What? You mean you don’t know Foreign Exchange? Damn, I need to do an underrated album series or something.

7. Too Late For Us (ft Tye Phoenix) - Pretty boring and weak. Maybe it’s one of those tracks that has to grow on you, I don’t know.

8. Cool As A Fan - Another track that suffers from subpar production. It wasn’t an issue at all on their last album, but this one could really use some beats from their former member.

9. Never Leave - I’m sorry. I really can’t think of what to say about this track. It’s very forgettable I guess, because I just listened to it like 3 times in a row and I can’t remember a thing.

10. The Pressure - Really, Khrysis is no 9th Wonder.

11. Lose It (ft Jozeemo) - This is not bad at all though although a different hook would serve nicely here. O and Big Pooh does really well. Dude is seriously underrated.

12. Fan Mail (ft Joe Scudda and Darien Brockington) - Joe Scudda has always been, in my humble opinion, the weak link in the Justus League chain. His verse here is tolerable and the song comes off as passable.

13. Stylin (ft Oh No) - Great track. Well done Khrysis, well done. More of this and I promise I’ll take back my previous comment.

14. Cross That Line remix (ft Kardinal Offishall) - Finally, 9th is back. Overall pretty good I guess, but I expected a lot more from the reunion track.

15. Back At It remix (ft Cormega) - An enjoyable track. The Cormega collabo is interesting.

16. Time Of Your Life (ft Carlitta Durand) - Nice, chill way to end the album on a high note. Nicely played.

Final Score - 8.0

It’s pretty good and I enjoyed it for the most part. But there are too many weak moments, mostly in production, to really warrant a higher score. Still, chances are high that you’ll at least like it, although I don’t see it going on anyone’s top 10 list for the year. O and here’s a treat for you guys. One of the itunes bonus tracks and one of 2 produced by 9th Wonder, Black Light Special. Enjoy.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1347264749d0d3f4/

Note: I’m actually pretty confused because Amazon has a different tracklisting than the one I see everywhere else. Strange. Maybe they have it wrong? It’s been wrong before.

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