Get To Know H.E.R.

The newest effort from the GZA comes three years after his DJ Muggs collabo, Grandmasters, and worries me to death. Why you ask? Well, even though the GZA released a motherfucking undeniable classic with his sophomore album Liquid Swords (yes, sophomore…don’t forget that gawd awful Words From The Genius album), his subsequent efforts have been just meh. Well, Grandmasters was pretty good actually, but it was an entire album with no Wu production on it whatsoever. And as if the GZA’s track record isn’t enough to have me worried, there’s the issue of that 50 Cent diss track he released a month ago that’s on this album. The track itself was alright, even if it could’ve been better, but the real problem is that now he has to back that track up some actual quality shit. Or else he’ll look washed up and old and be the next target of stupid ass Soulja Boy youtube clips. I don’t want to see that shit happen in my lifetime.

Before I start the actual review though, I have to say. That front artwork is gangsta as fuck! Alright that’s all.

The Good:

1. Intromental - As it’s name says it’s just an intro in the form of an instrumental, but I like it. Maybe it’s because there’s no actual words on it besides the occasional “GZA,” but it stays true to what it is and manages to seam to the next track.

2. Pencil (ft Masta Killa and RZA) - This is a pretty great track. All three emcees do their shit right on it and oddly, the beat sounds pretty nice when rhymes are being spit over it, even though it sounds close to ass when it’s playing just by itself. I guess that’s just a compliment to the rapping done on this. On a side note, Masta Killa is all over the Wu lately, I’m really growing to like this guy.

4. Groundbreaking (ft Justice) - The track’s alright, even though I think the second verse is pretty damn annoying. There’s an attempted Madlib/Quasimoto style rhyming going on and it just didn’t do it for me.

5. 7 Pounds - The first couple of seconds of the song made me think that they sampled the same song Lupe did for Daydreams and I started to get worried (not a huge fan of beatjacking in any form). But then the actual Black Milk production hits and it sounds nice.

6. 0% Finance - The menacing guitar driven beat fits GZA’s flow perfectly on this. Even if the beat gets repetetive as hell after a while, it’s a great track.

7. Short Race

10. Columbian Ties - I’m not sure it was the greatest idea to sequence the words “what goes around comes around” right after a diss track, but whatever. The track itself is pretty dope so all is forgiven.

12. Path Of Destruction

13. Cinema (ft Justice) - Everything about this track from the ominous beat, to the GZA’s subdued flow, to the whispered hook is downright creepy (which is what they were going for I’m sure). This track is gonna be the shit that plays in my nightmares.

15. Life Is A Movie (ft RZA, and Khan-Acito) - The second RZA produced track on this album is clearly the better of the two. It makes for a nice strong ending.

The Solid:

3. Alphabets

8. Interlude

9. Paper Plate - I can honestly say that while this track does its job, it’s pretty disappointing. The beat is a sick, creepy beat, but it’s ill suited for a diss track in my humble opinion, and the GZA’s flow sounds weak as hell on it even though his lyrics are for the most part on point. Could’ve been a LOT better.

11. Firehouse (ft Ka) - This Ka guy sucks. It took me a good 20 seconds into his verse before I realized he was actually rapping and not just talking out an intro of some sort. GZA manages to save this track from being horrible though.

14. Intermission

The Bad:

Well, all in all, I must say, I am surprised in the best way possible. It’s been a while since I’ve thought to myself, “damn that new GZA joint is sick,” and it’s a damn welcome feeling. Even though I am disappointed at the lack of Mos Def on this album (he was rumored to be on this), I can’t lie, I like this a lot. It’s a great album and I hope ya’ll don’t sleep on the GZA.

On a side note, I’m gonna be on a week long trip, so during that time, there will be no updates. See you guys when I get back to finish the Tribe discog and to review Vordul Mega and Ice Cube’s new albums.

We’ve now come to the third album in our tour of A Tribe Called Quest, and the third of which is recognized as a bonafide classic. The name for this album, as explained in one of the interludes, is derived from the fact that they listen to most of their music at midnight and that they maraud for ears. People’s and The Low End Theory, while fantastic albums, weren’t exactly unarguable classics in my eyes (most people may disagree), so the point of today’s review is to see if their third “classic” will be able to hold up to those golden standards.

The Midnight Marauders Tour Guide, serves as the album’s intro and introduces the album to us as a sort of program that we are being led through. This woman will show up time and again after tracks, much in the same way Jarobi did on People’s except fortunately for us, these interludes are actually pretty interesting and most importantly, they’re short. As soon as the introduction is done, the
album jumps right into the Steve Biko (Stir It Up), the horns come in, and my headstarts bobbing. Phife and Tip trade verse after verse after verse and I’m effectively convinced that this is a great first actual song. The next song, Award Tour, features Trugoy of the fellow Native Tongue members De La Soul, and is one hell of a track. At first, I was sort of disappointed that Trugoy only got to do the hook on this, but soon I realized this track just fucking rocks either way. This makes it even more surprising that 8 Million Stories, the Phife solo track, holds its own despite being sequenced after it. The next track up is Sucka Nigga, in which Q-Tip discusses how he doesn’t like it when people use the word as a term of endearment (although he did so himself at Rock The Bells). I actually like this song a lot, although it really didn’t need to be a Tip solo joint, considering that he spits the same damn verse twice. Midnight  is yet another Tip solo venture (which really makes me wish they had a Phife verse on the last track) and it continues the trend of quality found thus far. However, I do skip it from time to time, not because it’s a bad track, but because usually I can’t wait for the next four tracks.

The next four tracks on this album are what I consider to be it’s centerpiece. It’s four excellent songs that just blew my mind the first time I heard them. First up is We Can Get Down, which is infectious as hell. However, this track pales in comparison to what comes next, because up next is Electrical Relaxation, which I’m totally convinced is one of the greatest tracks released in any genre ever. Seriously, if you’ve never listened to any Tribe song in your life, do yourself a favor and youtube this shit now. Anyways, following my personal favorite Tribe song of all time is no small task but Clap Your Hands is a great track that does the job correct. The beat changes up in subtle ways throughout the verses and the hook, and it’s really one hell of a listen. The next track features Busta Rhymes but don’t expect any of the ridiculousness that was found on Scenario. On Oh My God, Busta’s role has been reduced to simply the hook (probably to avoid any show stealing), but I have to say, there couldn’t have been a better choice for the job. Phife drops some of the best lines of his career and overall the song is pure unadulterated quality hip hop.

Keep It Rollin is a track that really suffers from the sequencing. It’s a good track, but it’s nowhere near as good as the four monsters that preceed it and because of that, for the longest time, I’ve skipped it. However, one day I had my iPod on shuffle when this song came on, and that day I decided to actually give it a proper listen and I realized that it was actually a great song, complete with a Large Pro guest appearance. The next song, The Chase Pt II, however would probably sound average pretty much wherever you sequence it. I think it’s just an alright song, and even though your interlude will tell you that it’s the end of the Midnight Marauders program, it’s not the last track and thank God for that. Or else we never would’ve got Lyrics To Go, which is a testament to great producing. That high note that you’re hearing in the background all throughout is actually a vocal sample from Inside My Love. It’s haunting and creates the perfect soundscape. The last track is God Lives Through and it samples Oh My God’s chorus, but that’s really the only thing it has in common with that song. Well, other than the fact that both songs are superb. God Lives Through is a monstrous track that ends the whole album well with 1 sick verse each from Phife and Tip.

The Good: Steve Biko, Award Tour, 8 Million Problems, Sucka Nigga, Midnight, We Can Get Down, Electrical Relaxation, Clap Your Hands, Oh My God, Keep It Rollin, Lyrics To Go, God Lives Through

The Solid: Midnight Marauders Tour Guide, The Chase Pt II

The Bad: N/A

While The Low End Theory was a practice in minimalism, Midnight Marauders is a whole new different beast, as the production on this is simply in your face, kick ass, high energy jazz. I honestly have no qualms with labeling this album as a no brainer classic. It is without a doubt one of the greatest hip hop albums I’ve ever heard and probably will ever hear in my life and you should be halfway out your door on your way to the nearest Best Buy to pick this up by the time you finish reading this sentence.

My A Tribe Called Quest Discography Ranking Thus Far

1. Midnight Marauders
2. The Low End Theory
3. People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm

Note: From this point on, I’ve decided to stop giving out number scores, since they really are very ambiguous and arbitrary. I’ll just give you my final thoughts of whether this album is worth your time or not, and my ranking of the album in question compared with other albums from the same artist’s or group’s discography I’ve reviewed previously.

Moving right along, we reach A Tribe Called Quest’s second album, The Low End Theory. The album takes a slightly darker production than Tribe’s debut album and finds Tribe one member named Jarobi short. Just as well because by this time our black horse Phife Dawg had finally given up dreams of playing professional sports and had stepped his rap game way the fuck up. As such, although Q-Tip was still rightfully the main driving force of the rapping, Phife was actually featured on more than a mere three tracks making Low End Theory seem more like a group album than the Q-Tip solo People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm had been.

The Low End Theory upon it’s release, was hailed as a classic. Hell, it still is hailed as a classic. You go to any respected hip hop circle and drop the name and heads go crazy. It’s on a whole bunch of “best of lists” including Rolling Stones’ (yes the same Rolling Stones that shitted on Tribe’s last album) The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and their Top 25 Hiphop albums. And of course it received the perfect score of 5 mics from the Source Magazine (mind you this was back when The Source was still respected. Before they started giving out 5 mics to Lil Kim of all people.) So, when it’s all said and done, does the album live up to it’s reputation? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out.

Well, there’s no crying baby intro on this album, as Excursions comes on and Tip rhymes over a sick bass line. A great track and a great start to this album. Then, a Tribe classic, Buggin Out, kicks in and Phife spits a verse that’s heads above any of the three verses he put out on People’s. The progress Phife makes over the span of the first three albums is actually pretty amazing. Guess that’s what happens when you spend all your time in a studio with hip hop legends. But more on the song. Another minimalist beat but that’s not a complaint. In fact, the beat works very well and the two emcees do it more than enough justice. Afterwards is Rap Promoter, which is a decent enough song to keep things moving.

The next song, Butter, may come as somewhat of a surprise because it’s a Phife Dawg solo track. Tip is found nowhere on this track except on the hook, and what’s even more surprising the first time around is that it’s actually a pretty good song. A lot of people seem to regard Phife as just that other emcee, but in actuality he had some sick verses throughout his career, and on the next album has some of my favorites from Tribe. Anyways, the next track is a Q-Tip solo as apparent from the name, Verses From The Abstract, and it should come as no surprise. Show Business which features Sadat X and Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian and producer/rapper Diamond D sounds out of place as hell on this minimalist album, but the energy brought onto the track makes it so good that I don’t care. Another thing I find myself not caring about much is the next track, Vibes and Stuff. It’s always been the one track that I never could bring myself to fully listen to and I don’t plan to change that any time soon.

The Infamous Date Rape has a strange subject but the song comes off alright enough (remember Ham N Eggs?). It’s at least good enough to warrant a couple of listens although you may find yourself skipping it on later listens. The next song, Check The Rhime introduced the infamous Industry Rule #4080 (record company people are shaddyyyy) and also got me hooked onto Tribe in the first place. Tip and Phife tag team and trade rhymes with each other and it all results in one kick ass song. Everything Is Fair is another alright song, but it doesn’t really stand out next to the rest of the album (although to be fair this is a pretty damn good album). At least the next track is great. Apparently Pete Rock produced the original beat for Jazz (We’ve Got), and honestly I don’t know if that’s true or not. All I know is you’re going to love this song.

Skypager is another song that isn’t horrible, but I just don’t really have the urge to listen to. Probably because the next track, What, is a lot better. It’s a strange song, to be sure, but it’s quite enjoyable and addicting. Still, no track could prepare for our final song, Scenario. Just when you thought that Check The Rhime would be safe as far as best song on this album goes, this monster of a posse cut comes out of nowhere and absolutely rips things up. Seriously, from the first verse (which just happens to be one of my favorite Phife verses ever) all the way to the last, Busta’s legendary lyrical outburst, this song kicks so much ass, it’s unbelievable. It’s an excellent finish to the whole thing.

The Good: Excursions, Buggin’ Out, Rap Promoter, Butter, Verses From The Abstract, Show Business, Check The Rhime, Jazz (We’ve Got), What, Scenario

The Solid: The Infamous Date Rape, Everything Is Fair, Skypager

The Bad: Vibes and Stuff

Strangely enough, The Low End Theory doesn’t sound anywhere near as good as I remember it to be and there is a surprising amount of average material on it. Still, it’s not too much (it’s only a surprising amount because it’s freaking TLET) and some of the good tracks are so good, that you’ll find yourself not giving a fuck. It has it’s share of rough spots but compared with most of the album, it’s really pretty negligible and while it’s an overrated classic in my eyes, there’s a reason and that reason is that the album is excellent. Pick it up as soon as you can.

My A Tribe Called Quest Discography Ranking Thus Far

1. The Low End Theory
2. People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm

Honestly I was never really a huge fan of Slum Village, not even of Fantastic Vol 2. Blasphemy I know, but while it was chill beyond no other album ever created, sometimes it was way too chill and I ended up zoned out a lot. Anyways, Elzhi wasn’t even an official member of Slum Village at that time so let’s move on. While I never really got too deep into Slum Village as a group, I do consider myself something of an Elzhi fan and I played the shit out of Europass earlier this year. So along with his great pre CD release, and the fact that the majority of The Preface is supposedly produced by Black Milk (slightly overrated, but with good reason), I’m almost 100% certain that this is going to be a good album. Then again, that’s what I felt about the RZA’s album earlier this year, so we’ll see.

The Good:

2. The Leak (ft Ayah) - After a solid intro, this track really kicks things off. Honestly, I’m all for leaving intros off albums if they add nothing to the overall album and just starting albums with actual songs.

3. Guessing Game - There’s so much going on in the production that it’s amazing that Elzhi’s rhymes manage to stay the focus of the whole thing. Great track if I’ve ever heard one.

4. Motown 25 (ft Royce Da 5′9″) - Yeah, you’ve probably heard it before on Europass. Who cares? This track is hot as fuck. I would’ve been mad if they left this off. The beat provided by Black Milk is banging, Elzhi comes correct, and Royce tears shit up. Royce is one of the most underappreciated emcees of all time.

5. Brag Swag - Three excellent tracks in a row. So far this album is shaping up very nicely.

6. Colors

8. D.E.M.O.N.S. 

9. Save Ya (ft T3) - It’s a nice collabo with fellow Slum Village member T3. You’ve probably heard it already on Europass, but this version’s actually a bit different.

11. Transitional Joint - The beat gives this song a great chill vibe to it. Not the chill vibe that puts you to sleep but that chill vibe you want to kick back and drink a beer with your friends to.

12. Talking In My Sleep 

13. The Science (ft Fes Roc) - The production is kept pretty minimal without absolutely sucking ass, which allows for a completely rhyme centered track, just the way I like it.

14. Hands Up 

15. What I Write - Sick track. It’s probably the best track since Brag Swag.

16. Growing Up (ft AB) - The singing on the hook meshes with the beat very nicely, and makes for one hell of a closing track.

The Solid:

1. Intro (The Preface) - It’s a decent intro but honestly doesn’t stand out in any way, shape or form.

7. Fire remix (ft Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Fatt Father, Danny Brown, and Fat Ray) - The hit trees hard like George of the Jungle line had me laughing for a bit, but overall I’m not feeling this track as much as I did the tracks before.

10. Yeah (ft Phat Kat) 

The Bad:

Final Score: 9.5/9.0

So I was wrong about The Preface. It’s not a good album, it’s fucking fire. Seriously, Elzhi comes off a lot harder on this than on any other Slum Village track I’ve heard and it really pays off. Motown 25 is still the best song and the fact that it was included on Europass is alright with me. It’s an excellent album and it’s may even be slightly better than the Reks’ album I was going nuts over last month. Pick this shit up.

On a separate but related note, Black Milk is still not an excellent producer in my eyes, but the potential is most definitely there and is slowly being realized.

After Rock The Bells last Sunday, I realized that as legendary as A Tribe Called Quest is, there are still some people who don’t know anything about them besides their name. So I decided to take it upon myself to do a series on the discography of one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time.

A Tribe Called Quest consisted of emcees Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, and producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and for their debut album also included Jarobi White (a,e,i,o,u and sometimes y). They’re considered legends for a reason boys and girls and that reason is not making a stupid new dance craze. Far from it, the group was known for revolutionizing hip hop through both lyrics and beats. Altogether they’ve created 3 albums generally considered classics within hip hop circles, 1 considered pretty damn good, and one that well….is honestly not that great but did I mention that they made 3 classic albums????

Anyways, their debut, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, was received with more or less mixed emotions. Some hailed it as the new movement and others regarded it as passable. Rolling Stones magazine actually went so far as to say, “It’s impossible to imagine how people will put this music to use.” Well, regardless of how it was initially received, we in 2008 now know that people eventually came to see the light, and the album was showered with accolades and regarded as one of the best albums ever known to man. The question of course is, is this praise merited?? Well, it’s been a while since I’ve listened to it, so let’s refresh.

The album begins with the “birth” of A Tribe Called Quest in Push It Along, as you can tell from the strange crying baby sample. But then the beat kicks in, and by the time Q-Tip’s melodic rapping comes on, all you’re left with is a freaking great song. This song is one of the few on the album that features Phife Dawg, which is just as well because at this point, Phife hadn’t evolved into that great rapper we all know and love just yet (He was still busy thinking about how to become a successful athlete to give his all into rapping) Then, there’s a long ass interlude by Jarobi and then Luck Of Lucien begins. Horns on the hook included, I freaking love this song.

The next track is After Hours, and it’s an overall great track, but that’s due more to the absolute beauty of the production. Tip’s rhymes aren’t bad by any means, but the beat does overpower him. The beat on the following track, Footprints is just as great, if not better, and to top it all off, on this track, Tip actually matches its quality tit for tat. Left My Wallet In El Segundo is one of the weirder songs on the album and seems to be entirely about losing his wallet on a road trip. The story tellings excellent, but that doesn’t change the fact that the story itself is just random. With the album’s next track, Pubic Enemy, the album hits it’s first miss. I’ve never liked this song, and listening to it now, I still don’t like it. Enjoy a good laugh over the name, listen to the first minute or so and feel free to skip it. You won’t be missing out on much. Fortunately for us, the next song coming up is the epicly sweet Bonita Applebum. Seriously, it’s a great fucking song and I’m pretty damn sure The Fugees were listening to this when they were recording their own classic, The Score. Listen to Killing Me Softly if you don’t believe me.

Afterwards, Can I Kick It comes on and, Phife! Where the hell have you been? I know the dude is not impressing too much on this album, but by the time the next album rolled around, the 5 foot freak had seriously stepped his game up. For now though, I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it. Anyways, it’s a dope track and it makes the next 2 tracks, Youthful Expression and Rhythm (Devoted to The Art Of Moving Butts), look like nothing special. Youthful Expression is actually a pretty sweet track, just bad sequencing, and Rhythm may just have the most ridiculous title ever given to a hip hop song ever. Mr Muhammad, may be devoted to ATCQ’s sick ass producer, but the track itself is just boring I’ve never actually gotten through the entire track. Ham N’ Eggs, easily takes the cake for strange rap topics, as the rappers rap an entire song about…vegetarianism. Despite sounding like it belongs on Sesame Street, I think it’s decent enough. At least it’s better than Go Ahead In The Rain, which has to be one of my least favorite Tribe tracks ever. Thankfully for all involved, the last track, Description Of A Fool, is a LOT better, and ends the album on somewhat of a high note.

The Good: Push It Along, Luck Of Lucien, After Hours, Footprints, Left My Wallet In El Segundo, Bonita Applebum, Can I Kick It, Youthful Expression, Rhythm (Devoted To The Art Of Moving Butts), Description Of A Fool

The Solid: Ham N’ Eggs

The Bad: Pubic Enemy, Mr Muhammad, Go Ahead In The Rain

Final Score: 9.0/8.5

When all is said and done People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is not the unquestionable classic people claim it is. A lot of people won’t agree with me, but listening to it, it’s clear that Tribe still had some room to grow and there are some missteps on this album. However, just because it’s not classic, doesn’t mean it’s not great and there are more shining moments than missteps to be found. Overall, it’s an album that isn’t their best, but it is a great album that really shows flashes of brilliance that promises excellent things to be done in years to come.

This is just something that I totally forgot to let you guys in on when I put up the link for that Termanolog, Bun B collabo. The track listing production credits for this album is just nuts. Especially considering that it’s pretty much his debut album, the sheer quality of producers he managed to get for this project is unbelievable. I am surprised that Statik Selektah’s not on this though. But whatever, when all is said and done, it’s pretty much the lineup of beatmakers I would kill for if I was a rapper, established, up and coming, whatever. This album is quickly moving up in my list of most anticipated releases of 2008, and I hope to God it doesn’t disappoint.  Check it out for yourself.

Those of you who’ve read my review of Ras Kass’ Institutionalized Vol 2 may remember that I mentioned that the good bulk of Ras’ discography is out of print and damn near impossible to find a copy of. Well, that’s not the worst of it. Thanks to the ever so shady doings of the record company, two of Ras Kass’ albums never even saw the light of day and are actually impossible to find a copy of. These two albums are Van Gogh and Goldyn Chyld, and it’s a shame that these were never released since I think it features some of his best songs (including the Goldyn Chyld Primo remix). Hopefully one day they will be, ala Jean Grae’s Jeanius, but in the meantime Ras Kass fans will have to rely on blogs such as this one to supply them with the two albums.

Van Gogh Tracklisting:

01. Hot Game
02. Goldyn Chyld
03. Back It Up
04. Kiss You
05. Kick Rocks
06. 4 Much
07. What You Want
08. Is This Love
09. Sex
10. NBA
11. One Night
12. Aha
13. Root Of Evil
14. Van Gogh
15. TV Guide

DL Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/135385844/Ras_Kass-Van_Gogh.zip.html

Goldyn Chyld Tracklisting:

01. Revelations 2222
02. Goldyn Chyld (DJ Premier Remix)
03. The Whoop
04. Everything and More
05. Do You See What I See
06. Is This Love
07. Hate Me More
08. Fuck U Up
09. NBA
10. Sex
11. 4 Much
12. Drinks Up High
13. Happiness
14. Back It Up
15. Kick Rocks
16. Kiss Of Death
17. The Seance

DL Link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/135380072/Goldyn_Chyld_2002.zip.html

Well, since I started off the blog late into 2008, I figured I should try to review some of the key albums that were released in 08 in the months before this blog was in effect. The first of these albums is the latest from the legendary Roots crew, Rising Down, which was released this past April. The album was systematically leaked, starting with the first single, Birthday Girl (which actually didn’t even make the final cut for the album) and on from there. It took every fiber of my will power to restrain from listening to any of those tracks past 75 Bars and Get Busy in order to immerse myself in the full listening experience of the album I finally got it in my mailbx. Was it worth the damn effort? You’ll know soon enough.

Rising Down starts off with The Pow Wow, which is one of the angriest intros in the history of rap angry rap intros. As ?uestlove explains in the online liner notes, it’s basically a taped convo between Black Thought and the record company back in the days. In the middle of the converstaion Black Thought goes fucking buckwild and any preconception of the Roots as the fun loving hip hop band goes right out the window. And people wonder why this is considered the Roots’ angriest effort yet. Next up is Rising Down which features Mos Def and Styles P. Mos Def drops a pretty nice verse and gives me actual hope that his next album won’t suck as much as his last two. Styles P holds his own as well and proves again that he’s the most reliable of the D-Block crew (yeah, that’s right. I think Styles is a better rapper than Jada).

Afterwards is one of the two leaked tracks I’ve heard before, Get Busy. Best track on the whole damn album. Hell, it’s one of the best Roots tracks I’ve ever heard from any of their albums. The beat is simple yet effective, Black Thought does his thing, Dice Raw drops his best verse in a long ass time, Peedi Peedi spits a surprisingly nice verse (fuck the Innanet!), and Jazzy Jeff cuts the hook beautifully. It’s songs like this that make me realize hip hop isn’t damn near as dead as people claim. @15 is next and I guess it’s supposed to be Thought at age 15. The first time around it’s an interesting piece, but I found myself skipping it in later listens. The next track, 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction ), is the second of the two leaked songs, and it is an absolute monster of a track. Black Thought goes absolute bananas over the beat for a good 3 minutes and spits some of the greatest lines of his career. This beast is then followed by a completely useless interlude in the form of Becoming Unwritten, and Criminal. A lots of people seem to not like Criminal and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. It has a chill as fuck beat, the hook is likeable, and Saigon has a pretty damn nice verse on it.

The album then hits I Will Not Apologize and this is where for me at least, the album starts to fall apart. It features a rapper with quite possibly the dumbest name in all of hip hop (PORN. seriously? you couldn’t think of anything else?) who spits an eh verse. The beat is also a bit too boring after a while and the hook provided by Talib Kweli doesn’t do much for me as well. I Can’t Help It isn’t bad but I did expect more from a track that was supposed to feature the Roots emcees Black Thought, Malik B, and Dice Raw (and PORN but who gives a flying fuck). Singing Man, in my honest opinion is borderline crap by Roots standards. The horrible hook cements its place in my heart as one of the worst Roots songs ever created. Unwritten is basically another interlude although it does feature some actual rapping.

Lost Desire then kind of redeems the album as it is an actual good track. It’s also a notable track in that one of my favorite rappers, Talib Kweli, gets sandwiched between two absolute monsters on the mic and gets competely destroyed despite his best efforts. The following track is The Show and is another track that works to put the album back on the right track and is also the first Common appearance on a Roots album since Things Fall Apart. Then last but not least we have Rising Up, which features upcoming rapper Wale and would’ve an absolutely underwhelming way to end the album. Except that it isn’t the end. The official US release ends with Pow Wow 2, which is just as bad as ending it with Rising Up. However, if you can track down the leaked version of the outro, you’ll hear a much better ending to the whole damn thing as it features an old Roots crew freestyle over the Distortion To Static beat. Still, since we’re reviewing the actual official version, the album ends on a pretty mediocer note.

The Good: The Pow Wow, Rising Down, Get Busy, 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction), Criminal, Lost Desire, The Show

The Solid: @15, Becoming Unwritten, I Can’t Help It, Unwritten, Rising Up, Pow Wow 2

The Bad: I Will Not Apologize, Singing Man

Final Score: 8.0

As a huge Roots fan, I was disappointed with this release, especially after the greatness that was Game Theory. While it does feature some of the greatest Roots tracks ever recorded, at the same time, it’s just straight boring at some points. Overall it still has enough good tracks to warrant a listen or two, but other than Rising Down, Get Busy, 75 Bars, and Criminal you’re really not missing anything too important.

And now, just because I feel like it, I’ll throw in the two bonus tracks (I hate that American album buyers are always jipped of these), Birthday Girl and The Grand Return. Birthday Girl features the odd collabo of The Roots and Fall Out Boy, and despite all the hate it’s received, I actually think it’s worth checking out. The Grand Return is nothing too special, but it’s decent enough.

Birthday Girl:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/16635805ae36407e/

The Grand Return:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/16635482cce02a42/

First up today is a new track from Rock and Ruck (Sean Price) of Heltah Skeltah. It’s called Everything Is Heltah Skeltah and it’s off their new album, D.I.R.T. (Da Incredible Rap Team) due to be released September 30th. If this track is any indication of how the overall album will be I think it’s a sign of good things to come this fall.

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=Smpzek91dzhGOFJjR0E9PQ

Next up is a new track from one of the most underrated rapper of all time, Joe Budden. To the mainstream he’s mostly remembered for being pretty much being a one hit wonder with Pump It Up. Damn fucking shame. Anyone who’s been keeping up with this guy over the past years will have heard his Mood Musik mixtapes and have been amazed time and again (especially by Mood Musik 3). Anyways, he’s finally set to properly release a sophomore LP, Padded Room and hopefully cats won’t sleep on him. Here’s the first single from Padded Room, Touch and Go.

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=Smp2RkJaMGtrWSt4dnc9PQ

Ras Kass is a name that many of those that dabble in so called real hip hop will recognize. Mostly due to the fact that many of them have tried to buy a Ras Kass album only to realize that almost all of them are now out of print or were never even released to the fucking public in the first place. Those that have actually heard an actual Ras Kass album, know that he is without a doubt one of the finest lyricists to ever come out of the West Coast. They may also know that one of the reasons he never made it big was that his beat selection was for the most part shit covered with more shit. However, as a testament to his lyrical greatness, I thoroughly enjoy Soul On Ice, second rate production or not, solely based on Ras’ rhymes. So you’ll understand if I’m a little harsh on the dude from time to time during this review. Now that we got that overwith let’s start the show.

The Good:

2. Eyes Don’t Lie - The beat uses its sped up sample just enough to be effective without being completely annoying, and makes for a decent beat for Ras to rhyme over.

3. I’m All That - On the merit of the bass line alone I’m gonna give this a good rating. Ok, the rest of the track is actually pretty good as well, but damn I love that bass.

5. Behind The Musick - If anyone has a right to complain about the music industry, it’s Ras, and that’s exactly what he does on this track. 5 minutes of bitching over a dark beat makes for a surprisingly great song.

7. Ironman Thug - The rock fan in me appreciates the production on this thing and Ras does his job in ripping it up.

10. B.I.B.L.E. - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth it is not. But it’s great in its own right and when all is said and done I guess it’s unfair to compare the two tracks.

11. Ups and Downs (ft Proof) - The production on this track is pretty damn nice for a Ras Kass album.

12. Elevate (ft Crooked I and Odious)

13. Try Me

14. What It Might Be - It may be just me, but for some reason this track reminds me a lot of 50 Cent… still a good song.

16. M.V.P. -  Tracks 15 and 16 are actually by another cat named Namebrand instead of Ras Kass. This one is probably the better of the two songs.

The Solid:

1. Victory (We Shall Overcome) - It’s good in that it’s actually a song instead of a useless intro. Still, I won’t be fiending for it again anytime soon.

4. Capital - Skit…

8. The Call - Yet another damn skit. I’m thinking of reviewing a Handsome Boy Modeling School album or for that matter anything Prince Paul related soon to show ya’ll how a real skit is done.

9. John Is Real

15. I Just - This one’s the worse of the two Namebrand solos in my opinion.

The Bad:

6. We Go In - Ouch. What the hell were you thinking Ras? Everything from the beat to the hook to the lyrics makes me sick.

Final Score: 8.5

That score may be a bit overrated due to some Ras bias, but fuck it (non fans should just read the score as an 8.5/8.0). All in all, I’m pretty pleased with the whole thing, maybe because my expectations for this weren’t too high after his last couple of recent releases (although Revenge Of The Spit was pretty hot). The beats are better than your average Ras album, and fans of the man will not be disappointed.