Get To Know H.E.R.

Hits: Children Of The Night (ft Bo Roc), Gangsta Music (ft Bo Roc), Don’t Ya Dare Laugh (ft Xzibit and Young De), Psycho Realm Revolution (ft Sick Jacken), 10 Steps Behind (ft Young De and Tekneek), Stackn Paper, 1 Life (ft Sen Dog and Mal Verde), Dude vs Homie, When They Hate You (ft Babydoll Refresh)

Strikes: When We’re Fucking (ft Kurup, Too $hort, and Young De)

Balls: Everything You Want (ft Buckshot), 6 Minutes (ft Young De and Tekneek), Fire (ft Camian Marley), Get That Dough (ft Babydoll Refresh), Dr Hyphenstein (Snoop Dogg, Young De, and Trace Midas)

I told you I would start up reviews again and I’ve held to my promise. And like I said, today’s review will be of B-Real’s solo LP, which dropped this past Tuesday. For those who don’t know (and there are a surprising number of people who don’t know), B-Real is the lead rapper for the veteran hip hop group Cypress Hill. While his group’s producer DJ Muggs has been quite the busy man in the past couple of years, dropping LPs with the likes of GZA and Planet Asia, B-Real on the other hand has stayed relatively quiet and inactive, other than a few mixtapes here and there. But for one reason or another he’d finally decided to get off his ass and record again, providing fans with his first ever solo album.

I gotta tell you, I’ve never really been the biggest fan of Cypress Hill back in the day. I still bump their debut from time to time and Insane In The Brain and Illusions are still that real shit but for the most part, they were never able to captivate my attention in the same way as other hip hop artists could. And you know what, the biggest reason I enjoyed Cypress Hill at all was usually DJ Muggs’ production, so going into this review, that was naturally my biggest concern. I’m glad to say that for the most part the production here holds its own pretty well. While I am disappointed that Muggs didn’t contribute even one beat to this project, I can’t say no to the production on tracks such as Children of the Night and When They Hate You. When They Hate You in particular, with its haunting beat and subtle vocals, was a standout and actually reminded me a lot of Portishead (this is always a good thing).

As far as the rapping goes, B-Real does his best to keep the audience’s attention. Now even the most die hard Cypress Hill fans have to admit that B-Real was never ever the most proficient rapper and I guess the man himself knows that as well, since the album was chock full of guest artists. As with all albums that are littered with guest rappers, B-Real sometimes gets lost among the crowd but to the man’s credit, he does hold his own on the two completely solo tracks. But the rapping never really gets to be that great.

Which brings us to the main problem with this album. It’s not bad by any means. In fact, I had a good time listening to it (except that mess of a last track). However, just as Cypress Hill was never able to do as a group, B-Real was also never able to fully captivate me. There were no moments where I was truly buggin out listening to the tracks and quite honestly, the only song I really remember right now is When They Hate You and maybe 1 Life. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s a solid effort. It’s a good, decent album worth a spin or two when you need some music to chill to. Unless you’re a big fan of B-Real, I would say it’s not essential that you listen to this joint (you should instead listen to OC’s album of the very similar but not exactly the same name). However, I personally will be keeping When They Hate You in rotation for a while after this.

The WTF Moment: Kurupt and Too $hort being featured on the hands down worst track really makes me shake my head. What a waste of talent.

Note: The WTF Moment is just something new I’m trying out. It’ll be anything that really stuck in my mind after listening to the album through. This can be either good or bad and can be anything from a particularly good verse, a horrible song, an unlikely pleasant surprise collaboration, etc.