Get To Know H.E.R.

Hits: I’m Coming (ft Black Milk and Nottz), The Truth (ft Freeway and Brother Ali), God Like (ft D Black), Bless The Child (ft Little Brother), Oh Really (ft Posdnuos and Slug), Trap Door (ft MF Doom), Dead Wrong (ft Young Buck), Kissin The Curb (ft Bishop Lamont and Busta Rhymes), How We Ride (ft Freeway), White Van Music (ft Alchemist, Evidence, Prodigy), Get ‘er Done (ft MF Doom), Feelin’ My Shit (ft Casual), Glow (ft Elzhi and Royce Da 5’9”), Home (ft Vitamin D, C Note, Main and Ish)

Strikes: Scared (ft Blueprint), Soil Raps (ft Keak The Sneak),

Balls: Gangsta Boy (M.O.P.), Big Homie Style (ft J. Pinder, GMK and Spaceman),

Note: Turn It Down, Hi and RIP are interludes

I should really kick myself in the ass for taking so long to write about this damn album. Since I first heard this thing straight through, it’s been getting heavy rotation weekly.

Where should I start?

If you don’t know, Jake One is a relatively low key producer who has produced tracks for artists as diverse as De La Soul and 50 Cent. However, each of these tracks has been nothing but straight fire, especially that De La one. Quick story, De La Soul was at Rock The Bells this past summer and as soon as the beat for that song came on, the crowd went fucking nuts. Then they stopped the song and the crowd sat down. Then out of nowhere the beat came back and everyone stood up again at the same time. This went on about 5, 6 times and would’ve looked positively ridiculous if I wasn’t a hip hop fan.

Anyways, this album offers more of the same sick beats he’s been dropping on us for his whole career. And of course, what goes better with sick beats than sick emcees? That’s exactly what this album has to complement Jake One’s production. With just a glance at the list of emcees that are on this album, I had no doubt it would be chock full of sick rhymes. There were your usual “stick with what works” collabos such as Elzhi and Royce in Glow and Evidence and Prodigy in White Van Music, both tracks that were complete scorchers. But what made this album even better were the unusual collabos that seemed strange on paper, but were excellent in execution. In particular the track with Posdnuous and Slug caught my attention, since I had actually secretly been wishing for this to happen forever.

Before I start rambling, I’ll cut this review short and lay it out simple for you. If you hadn’t by now, do yourself a favor and listen to this shit as soon as you can. Even with a couple of misguided tracks, it’s one of the best producer driven albums of 2008 and a definite contender for at least top 15 overall. Seriously, it’s worth the time.