My Gut Reaction: Common - The Dreamer / The Believer (December 20, 2011)

First, some quick business: Today's post will be the final one of the year.  What with the holiday season being upon us and all, I figured now would be the best time for me to rest a bit and get my bearings back.  I plan on returning sometime after the new year, at which time the blog will be reverting back to its once-every-three-days schedule, as that will be all I will be able to squeeze in.  So it'll be more important than ever for you two to make your thoughts known in the comments sections of the various posts and to order your random crap off of Amazon using the links placed within the reviews, in order to keep everything going smoothly.

That said, I figured it would be best to leave you two with a write-up for a project I'm sure a lot of you had been waiting impatiently for all year long: Common's ninth album The Dreamer / The Believer.

Shortly after critics shat all over his 2008 release Universal Mind Control (which was still nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album, which shows just how little the music industry cares about critics, and just how little the music industry listens to actual hip hop), Lonnie Lynn decided that his next album needed to take things back to the basics, and recruited his former collaborator, producer No I.D. (who was the primary helmer behind his first three albums, Can I Borrow A Dollar?, Resurrection, and One Day It'll All Make Sense), to back him on every track.  

Recording for what ultimately became The Dreamer / The Believer began in 2009, when No I.D. was in the midst of his own career resurgence, thanks to fellow Chicago resident Kanye West's public insistence that Dion was both his mentor and his inspiration finally settling in with hip hop circles: he was able to parlay this into much more prolific production credits with the likes of 'Ye, Jay-Z, and the artists on 'Ye's G.O.O.D. Music imprint, all of whom had more publicity than anyone Jermaine Dupri, No I.D.'s former collaborator, worked alongside.

It took two years for The Dreamer / The Believer to hit store shelves due to Common's agent's insistence that he was a good actor who deserved to work (although some of those choices were less than impressive: he was miscast in that Steve Carrell/Tina Fey comedy Date Night, he appeared in the most recent Terminator movie for some reason, and I understand that his show Hell On Wheels isn't very good, although that may not be entirely his fault).  During that time, Common also left 'Ye's G.O.O.D. Music imprint in favor of starting his own vanity label, Think Common Music Inc., although he left Kanye's merry band of weed carriers (and Mos Def) on good terms, and will still work with them in the future.

The Dreamer / The Believer first caught my attention because of the wall-to-wall production from No I.D.: you two already know how I feel about the lack of cohesiveness in our chosen genre because of there being nineteen producers on a rap album that only features twelve tracks.  Lonnie isn't my favorite rapper or anything (don't tell him), but he has some undeniably classic records under his belt, and he's even got a powerful dis record ("The Bitch In Yoo"), one that actually caused some damage to its target, in his catalog.  So I'm hoping that this project is, at the very least, entertaining.

1.  THE DREAMER (FEAT. MAYA ANGELOU & JAMES FAUNTLEROY II)

This was actually a pretty good way to kick off the album, even with Lonnie's false start at the beginning of his second verse and the inclusion of spoken word poetry (groan) from Maya Angelou at the end.  (Yeah, wasn't too thrilled about that.)  But No I.D.'s instrumental is moving, and it's also fucking great, so everything clicks in the best possible way.  Com's three stanzas introduce the project magnificently, although he gives off a Mos Def-esque vibe on here at times.  It's fucking hysterical to me that Angelou figures so prominently into a track that also contains the line, "Trying to fuck the world, she'd only let me finger".  Not bad.

2.  GHETTO DREAMS (FEAT. NAS)

The Nas vocal sample at the very beginning (and throughout, I suppose) actually ties into the end of Maya Angelou's piece at the end of "The Dreamer", which was something you just didn't receive when "Ghetto Dreams" was released as the first single from this project.  No I.D.'s instrumental bangs, but the lyrics are all fairly ridiculous, as there is nothing remotely inspiring about the song, even though the title leads you to believe otherwise: instead of fantasizing about getting the fuck out of the ghetto, Common and Nas dream about getting their fuck on with their respective versions of the perfect women.  Common, in particular, gets weirdly specific with his checklist, as he wants his woman "butt-naked in the kitchen flippin' pancakes" and ready to pose for nude photos at the drop of a hat, but he also wants her to have...witnessed the death of her brother?  What the fuck?  You know, it's probably better for everyone involved if you gloss over all of the words and just nod your head to the instrumental, which deserved better.

3.  BLUE SKY (FEAT. MAKEEBA RIDDICK)

Common threw the second single from The Dreamer / The Believer immediately after the first one.  How mice of him.  I never cared much for this song, though.  It's technically proficient and all, and Lonnie sounds decent enough with his bars (which are a lot more inspiring than anything from the previous track), but I couldn't get past the looped-up sample from E.L.O.'s "Mr. Blue Sky", a song I love otherwise.  The vocals from Makeeba Riddick also failed to move me.  "Blue Sky" ends up sounding like a snack break (a nicely paced one, at least) in between two tracks with powerhouse instrumentals that forcefully steal your attention away from you.  Sorry.

4.  SWEET

This song is the reason why I picked up The Dreamer / The Believer in the first place: Dion's masterpiece of an instrumental sounds like he swiped the best elements of Kanye West and The RZA, threw them in a blender, and then tossed that aside and decided to create his own original work.  The beat is fucking epic, and Common rises to the challenge, delivering two verses filled with braggadocio (his opening bar, "How can I say this?...fuck it, I'm the greatest!" has become a personal mantra, much to the dismay of my wife) and many many ad-libs aimed at ripping an adversary (named Aubrey "Drake" Graham) several shiny new assholes.  While I haven't heard Lonnie sound this pissed off since he fucked up Ice Cube's career path with "The Bitch In Yoo", it still seems that this beef is both random and ridiculous: does anybody actually give a fuck about who would win a battle between two guys names Lonnie and Aubrey?  Not exactly pay-per-view material.  It would be like watching two kittens fighting over a ball of yarn while on their hind legs: adorable (because they think they're people!) and inconsequential.  Maybe Com is just showing loyalty to his friend and former boss Kanye West, I don't know.  Anyway, this song is still really fucking sweet.

5.  GOLD (FEAT. JAMES FAUNTLEROY II)

I liked this track okay, but I still walked away from it feeling empty.  No I.D.'s instrumental made for an interesting contrast with itself, while Com's two verses were both entertaining (although his bars ultimately fizzle into random bullshit that will be mistaken for "deep", he actually makes a timely reference to Christmas, even comparing himself to Jesus Christ at one point, which I'm sure will go over well with the bible belt crowd).  My issue was with the guest star on the hook, which attempts to lend "Gold" a dramatic effect that it never fully earns, as it takes itself much more seriously that everyone else involved did.  His distorted vocals near the end sounded obnoxious as shit as a result.  How is it possible to enjoy a song and not recommend it to anyone at the same time?  I don't know, but here we are.

6.  LOVIN' I LOST

And just like that, The Dreamer / The Believer leaps back onto the good foot.  Dion lends his boy a Curtis Mayfield "I've Loved and I've Lost"-sampling beat that helps our host illustrate, over the course of two verses, how much he misses the "Lovin' I Lost".  The music relies a bit to heavily on the vocal samples: at times, they threaten to dominate the track and insert additional credits into the liner notes.  So far, this album is far from perfect, but when it connects, it sounds like what Common was aiming for with those two Kanye West-handled releases.

7.  RAW (HOW YOU LIKE IT) (FEAT. MAKEEBA RIDDICK)

Not nearly as raw as I would have preferred.  Had Dion left the drums and the melody alone, I could have seen what he was aiming for, but with the female vocals, the sirens, and the goddamn air horn, it's almost as though he was consciously trying to polish this baby up for mainstream consumption.  Common sounds alright, though, delivering two verses (two appears to be the magic number) of random boasts, attempts at clever wordplay, and general shit-talking (he even threatens to bash someone "in the head with a motherfucking bottle". an attitude that wouldn't get him very far at the White House).  This wasn't terrible, but I'm hoping for a remix that features drums so dusty you can see it fly out of your speakers.  A man can dream.

8.  CLOTH (FEAT. JAMES FAUNTLEROY II)

The singing on here straddles that fine line between cheesy and heartfelt, nearly tripping over its own shoelaces at times.  However, that's a minor quibble for a track that I ultimately liked a lot.  Common's love letter to an anonymous female who shares a lot in, um, common with him (cut from the same "Cloth", as it were) is both sweet and banging, thanks to No I.D.'s excellent musical backing.  I can't say enough good things about this song, so instead I'm going to cut myself off and move on to the next tr

9.  CELEBRATE (FEAT. JAMES FAUNTLEROY II)

Dion takes the drums that should have been used on "Raw (How You Like It)" and pairs it with a self-conscious melody that doesn't sound as celebratory as you would hope.  This wouldn't have been my personal choice for a single, but that's just me.  And most of you two, I'm sure.  The chorus hilariously equates the need to celebrate with having "all [your] n----s around", which seems rather shortsighted for an album that feels the need to inspire the listener to both dream and believe.  It is what it is.

10.  WINDOWS (FEAT. JAMES FAUNTLEROY II)

I absolutely could not get into this fucking song.  That's all I got.

11.  THE BELIEVER (FEAT. JOHN LEGEND)

Common may no longer be a part of Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music imprint, but that doesn't mean that he can't pilfer from their ranks for assistance on his own shit, which is why crooner John Legend appears on this bookend.  So it's too bad that he doesn't ask for much more from his guest than a generic R&B hook.  Granted, unlike most rap songs in our current climate, the hook actually does tie into what Common is actually talking about on this track, and No I.D.'s beat isn't horrible.  It's just that I don't have much faith in this song after having listened to it.  I found it boring as shit.  Oh well.

12.  POPS BELIEF (FEAT. LONNIE "POPS" LYNN)

After taking the last album off (and saving face in the process), Common's father returns to provide a fitting-enough ending to The Dreamer / The Believer.  And with that, we're done.

THE LAST WORD:  Common's The Dreamer / The Believer has its brilliant moments, but they are far outweighed by Common's duality, his need to be both an entertainer and an educator, with neither side ever winning out.  Cohesiveness isn't an issue, thanks to our host's insistence on only working alongside No I.D., but consistency is, and it isn't present at all on this project.  For the most part, Common sounds the same as he always has behind the microphone: not horrible, but not terrific, either.  Producer No I.D. is forced to shoulder the bulk of the project's mission, and when the beats work, they knock, but when they don't, they drag the fuck on, which is problematic.  Those of you two expecting Resurrection Redux or One Day It'll All Make Sense Again I Swear will walk away with your head hanging low, as The Dreamer / The Believer sounds just as ridiculous as those fake album titles.  However, there are a handful of amazing songs on here.  You just have to wade through a ton of ordinariness to get to them.  Damn.

-Max

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You can read some more about Common by clicking here.

Reader Review: G-Dep - Child Of The Ghetto (November 20, 2001)

(Today's Reader Review, the final one of the year, comes from the artist formerly known as Sir Bonkers, the newly christened Bennyfromdablock. Continuing his trend with writing up albums that most people (read: me) have little to no interest in, today's post discusses current Rikers inmate G-Dep and his solo debut, Child Of The Ghetto. Leave some notes for him below, and check out his own review blog when you get a chance.)

G-Dep is an emcee who was once signed to Puffy’s Bad Boy Records: he remained there from 1999 to 2001, when his debut album Child of the Ghetto failed to move any units. (Although he did contribute to Puff Daddy’s successful compilation that year, The Saga Continues..., which makes his career very similar to Hittman’s.) He is currently doing time on Rikers Island for shooting and killing a man during a robbery back 1993, a case that initially went cold even though the man tried to confess on three separate occasions (he wasn't taken seriously the first two times because he happened to be on angel dust).

Before he was signed to Bad Boy, he was a Gang Starr Foundation affiliate, even earning a shout-out in the liner notes of 1994's Hard To Earn as one of the underground emcees holding it down, appearing in the same sentence as the entire motherfucking Wu-Tang Clan. He was also featured on Moment Of Truth's “The Mall”. So that should count for something, right?

So I was checking out my copy of The Saga Continues…, remembered G-Dep's cameos (and his appearances on other projects), and figured, "why the fuck not?" Diddy’s and Black Rob's respective albums at the time were above average in quality, right?

1. INTRO

Next!

2. EVERY DAY

Over an ominous piano-based Amen-Ra beat, Dep introduces his pre-album-advance persona. Although he isn’t as charismatic as his labelmates Black Rob and Shyne (note that I’m not saying Shyne is a good rapper here), he turns out to be a good storyteller with close attention to detail, and his tale about being broke, down, and out is something we can all relate to in this economy. The hook cleverly flips a line originally from Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's “La Di Da Di”. (Side note: the fact that G-Dep allegedly (and by his own account) killed someone during a robbery lends credibility to the belief that he actually did have a bad time in the ghetto, unlike, say, The Notorious B.I.G.)

3. CHILD OF THE GHETTO

This song originally appeared on Puffy’s The Saga Continues… compilation. The beat isn’t catchy, and our host's flow, rhymes, and voice all fail to hold my attention.

4. SPECIAL DELIVERY (FEAT. DIDDY)

This club banger, courtesy of EZ Elpee, was actually a hit single. To me, this sounds like an overly simplistic version of the Clipse’s “Mr. Me Too” (although “Special Delivery” was released well before that effort), with its entranced female ab-libs and it’s bleeps. Anyway, if it weren’t for Diddy shouting everywhere on the song as if he was trying to coax better verses out of G-Dep, this would be flat-out boring: as it is, it’s simply obnoxious. I guess I had forgotten how talented this man truly is. There’s also an official remix that features Ghostface Killah, Keith Murray & Craig Mack. I guess I could get all excited about the return of the Mack to Bad Boy Records (a comeback that lasted the length of exactly one verse), but then again, it doesn’t sound sufficiently better than this song.

5. WHATEVER (INTERLUDE)

Next!

6. KEEP IT GANGSTA (FEAT. SHYNE)

It comes as a surprise that Shyne appears on this song because I believe this was released after the infamous trial. This sounds like a parody of, well, keeping things gangsta. The hook, courtesy of the guest, has to be the absolute worst I have ever heard in my entire fucking life. Perhaps the judge heard him ask, “Where the n----z with big guns and big dicks?” 3,729 times on this song sometime during the proceedings and decided to let him experience the answer firsthand in the bing for ten years straight . It's that awful. Also, why were Knobody and Sean Cane both required to create this shitty beat?

7. SMASH ON THE FIRST NIGHT (FEAT. MAY)

This instrumental, the creation of which involved Mario Winans, sounds like a J-Lo reject, but, at the very least, this failed radio-friendly track is catchy. That’s something the previous three songs didn’t have going for them. I hope G-Dep didn't get "smashed" upon his first night in the bing.

8. THE RIDE

This was okay, I suppose.

9. NEWS REPORT (INTERLUDE)

I’m actually glad that there’s a skit rather than a repetitive song at this point.

10. DANGER ZONE

This actually manages to sound like “Special Delivery” redux.

11. I AM (FEAT. KOOL G RAP & RAKIM)

The Yogi instrumental sounds a lot more engaging than everything since “Every Day”. Although I’m fairly new to the work of both guest stars (hey, at least he's honest), they both lay down decent verses. Not great: just decent. This isn’t what their respective legacies are based upon anyway, so I’ll probably be forgiven for not eating this shit up like a poorly made cheeseburger when you’re on some good weed downtown and having the munchies. Still, compared to the suffocating boredom that was what came before this, it was a breath of fresh air.

12. BLAST OFF (FEAT. MARK CURRY & LOON)

Also taken from The Saga Continues...This Neptunes-aping club banger has a much better than, for instance, “Special Delivery”, which is too bad, since the featured guests on here are easily the two worst rappers signed to Bad Boy ever (and yes, I am including Sean Combs himself). At least there are three individual voices, which slightly takes the attention off their individual verses

13. THE REAL (INTERLUDE)

Next!

14. DOE FIEND

Apparently, this is an updated version of Eric B. & Rakim's classic “Microphone Fiend”; I wouldn't know, as I haven't heard the original (again, at least he's honest), but this doesn't do anything for me. Puffy’s obviously trying to connect all of his artists to the old school (see: his own “Been Around the World”, The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize", Black Rob’s “Thug Story”, Shyne’s “That’s Gangsta” and now this). But that doesn't mean it's working.

15. I WANT THE WORLD TO SEE (FEAT. JOE HOOKER)

And to think Diddy could just as easily have released another Black Rob album instead of this. Robbie’s debut went gold without selling out, right? (Um, not exactly.) What was Puff thinking? He would finally do just that in 2007, when everyone had already forgotten all about the guy. What does this have to do with anything? This sounds like the two Joe Hooker-featured songs on Life Story simply because he’s on here, except for that this one sucks.

16. LET’S GET IT (FEAT. DIDDY & BLACK ROB)

Again, from The Saga Continues... G-Dep gets the first two verses (and the hook) and manages sound good, which was awfully nice of him. Both guests get a verse each, and it all works because the energetic Yogi beat knocks and diverts attention from their actual bars.

17. IT’S ALL OVER (FEAT. CARL THOMAS)

No it isn’t, you lying, sadistic bastards.

18. ONE WAY (FEAT. BLACK ROB)

The beat (by some guy who goes by the awful, awful moniker Spunk Bigga) has a way of creeping up your spine, and Dep's hook is actually really good in this context. Rob murders G-Dep on his own shit because his voice isn’t so sleep-inducing to whomever may listen. This could have been better had Robert been given more mic time, but overall this was okay. (Side note: The fact that Dep really killed a guy makes this song a lot creepier, even though that doesn't actually change the quality of the track.)

19. STRAIGHT TO THE TOP (INTERLUDE)

Only one more song to go.

20. NOTHING’S GONNA STOP ME

Oh, yeah? How’s about the eject button, motherfucker!? I also suppose that poor album sales, a substance abuse problem, and now this murder case case might stop G-Dep's rap career, at least. Anyway, this leads into an unnecessary hidden bonus remix of “Let’s Get It” if you still care enough to be reading this.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I originally went into G-Dep's Child Of The Ghetto with an open mind, having heard Dep's contributions to that one Gang Starr song, Black Rob’s Life Story, B.I.G.’s Born Again, Diddy’s Forever and The Saga Continues... (yeah, I know) and a Benzino remix that also featured Fabolous (I know, quit your bitchin’). Although a lot of what I just mentioned is bad music in and of itself, I found that I often did enjoy G-Dep's performance. However, when he is left on his own for more than one or two verses, he is simply not that interesting of a rapper. G-Dep seems barely able to write one entire song worth hearing, and his bloodless vocal tone (which is annoyingly bland, as opposed to Ma$e’s possible-to-ignore monotone). This is so problematic that if you try to hear this in its entirety, you’ll find yourself paying more attention to Puffy’s fucking ad-libs. Although I have to give Puff kudos for not filling Child Of The Ghetto with samples from 1980s songs and old Biggie verses, most of the instrumentals he chose for this project are pretty awful. There are rumors that G-Dep was battling an addiction to angel dust while recording this project; although I'm not sure what the effects of that particular drug are, Dep does sound heavily sedated on here most of the time. There is an interview in which our star claims that his drug problem caused Diddy and him to fall out: I say it was probably his pimp’s general inability to sell him to any audience.

BUY OR BURN?: Do me a favor and check out “Every Day”. It’s a good song. Honestly! And it deserves to be heard, in spite of the bullshit album it found itself living upon. The rest of this should be left wherever you may find it.

BEST TRACKS: “Every Day”; “Let’s Get It”

-Bennyfromdablock

(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave your thoughts below.)

My Gut Reaction: Pusha T - Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray (November 8, 2011)

Virginia coke-rap enthusiast Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton, one-half of the critically-acclaimed duo the Clipse, released his first solo effort, the free mixtape Fear Of God, earlier this year after setting up a solo deal with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint and scoring two brilliant cameos on his new boss's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ("Runaway" and "So Appalled", which is still my shit).  While it's difficult for any rapper to meet the high expectations that their fans hold them to, Fear Of God was especially disappointing, as it was very inconsistent, with its legitimately good songs hampered by the inclusion of weaker freestyles, boring production, and too much dependency on guest stars.

Pusha T aimed to make up for this by releasing a sequel, the EP Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray.  Although five of the tracks included were his personal favorites from the original project, he recorded seven new songs in order to justify the fact that Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray was intended to actually be sold.  In stores.  As such, this project has become the man's official debut solo release.

A quick glance at the tracklisting implies that Pusha didn't really learn from his mistakes from the first volume, as the guest list has somehow become even more crowded (and now includes such random names as Diddy and Tyler, the Creator).  But I won't let that deter me from finding out if this EP is worth my time.  Hell, at least I only have to write about seven songs: those of you looking for my thoughts on the back end of Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray can click on this link to read my review of the original mixtape.

And so.

1.  CHANGING OF THE GUARDS (FEAT. DIDDY)

Don't be alarmed by the guest list: the "artist" forever known to me as Puff Daddy only chimes in with some occasional ad-libs that aren't entirely necessary, but still weren't terrible.  Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray kicks off with what is essentially a rap album intro, one which features Pusha spitting a one-verse wonder that somehow simultaneously sounds pretty decent and makes you wish that he never discovered production outside of the Neptunes.  Still, not bad.

2.  AMEN (FEAT. KANYE WEST & YOUNG JEEZY)

While the extended intro to "Amen" played out, I wondered why this shit wasn't used as the first track on Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray: hell, the monologue even directly ties in to the album's title.  Oh, also, it actually sounds entertaining, and I extend that praise through to Young Jeezy's guest verse, even though it sounds out of place.  (Which is strange, as "Amen" was originally a Jeezy solo track, as is my understanding.)  Pusha T and his boss Kanyeezy walk away with this Shawty Redd beat (which isn't the sort of thing I gravitate toward, but I still thought it sounded pretty good), as both men deliver hot verses that don't sound as ominous as the instrumental demands, but are catchy nonetheless.  'Ye's asshole tendencies, which tend to expose themselves more often on songs not produced by him, sound especially good when limited to a cameo on a subordinate's song.

3.  TROUBLE ON MY MIND (FEAT. TYLER, THE CREATOR)

Features the finest Neptunes instrumental of all of 2011, and not just because it sounds far removed from the blingy synths the production duo is known for: it's actually just good.  The song itself is also pretty decent, but it can't help but sound dated as shit, since it was originally recorded way back when people actually gave a damn about Odd Future frontman Tyler, the Creator (he even cribs a line from his breakout track, "Yonkers", on here).  "Trouble On My Mind" probably would have sounded much better had Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray been released on time.  Anyway, Pusha and Tyler don't sound terrible together, and our host has always excelled over Pharrell and Chad beats (at least, it's rumored that Chad Hugo actually worked on this beat, unlike some of the other Neptunes product over the years), but you can't help but think that the collaboration isn't what you would refer to as "natural".

4.  WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF

Pusha's conversational boasts (he really sounds like he's having a discussion with the listener, one that just so happens to rhyme every few words or so) are bookended by Ric Flair sound bites that don't add much to the proceedings, but fit the overall mood anyway.  Over a VIPs instrumental that has to grow on you, our host unleashes a steady stream of braggadocio that is essentially what you expected to hear from the one-half of the Clipse who (a) still raps, and (b) ended up finding his solo career being guided by one of the biggest names in music today.  This wasn't bad.

5.  BODY WORK (FEAT. JUICY J, MEEK MILL, & FRENCH MONTANA)

I dreaded listening to this collaboration the moment I first read about it, since I was afraid that it would sound like a generic nonsensical Southern posse cut.  Which it does, and it is, but the Rico Beats instrumental is actually pretty good, even though it isn't the sort of thing I would immediately gravitate to.  Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J (who apparently traded in his Academy Award for a shot with the Hot Topic crowd by aligning himself with Wiz Khalifa's camp?  What the fuck?) kicks things off with a brief verse and a goofy chorus, followed by our host, Rick Ross weed carrier Meek Mill (whose rap name is too close to that of Mac Miller for me to take him seriously), and French Montana, the newest member of Puff Daddy's Bad Boy conglomerate.  None of the verses are especially impressive: in fact, they're all lazy as shit (specifically those of Pusha T and Meek, who feel the need to end every bar with the word "n---a").  But taken as a whole, "Body Work" somehow transcends its shitty blueprint to sound decent enough.  Weird.

6.  EVERYTHING THAT GLITTERS (FEAT. FRENCH MONTANA)

French Montana, making his second appearance on Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray, lends "Everything That Glitters" a horrific chorus that would be funny if it weren't so motherfucking terrible, thanks to his piss-poor delivery and his unexplained need to break out into song only during certain words.  Pusha sounds okay over the A-Traxx instrumental on his own, though: the subject matter (rappers revealing that living the high life isn;t all it's cracked up to be) is far from original, but our host makes the most of it throughout the track's running time.  But that chorus should be convicted of first degree murder for brutally slaughtering the momentum of the track.  It's that fucking inept.  I would write that the hook is so bad that you two just need to hear it for yourselves, but that would defeat the purpose of a negative critique, now, wouldn't it?

7.  SO OBVIOUS (FEAT. BANGLADESH)

The final new song on Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray is nearly ruined by the obtrusive ad-libs from producer Bangladesh that fuck up the flow (although his beat, which apes the general style of his work for Lil' Wayne, does a good enough job of interrupting the program all by itself), but Pusha T remains focused, delivering three verses without any regard for his surroundings.  He sounds as consistent as Bangladesh sounds bothered.  I'm not sure if I will ever get over my feelings for our host rhyming over non-Neptunes beats, but "So Obvious" doesn't help matters any.  Also, the chorus is fucking retarded.  There, I said it.

As mentioned above, the rest of the tracks on Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray were already reviewed during my write-up on the original Fear Of God mixtape.  They appear in much the same form on here.

8.  FEELING MYSELF (FEAT. KEVIN COSSOM)

9.  RAID (FEAT. 50 CENT & PHARRELL)

10.  MY GOD

11.  I STILL WANNA (FEAT. RICK ROSS & AB-LIVA)

12.  ALONE IN VEGAS

THE LAST WORD:  Pusha T's EP Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray is ultimately an entertaining diversion that won't save the world (or hip hop, for that matter), but it will get you by until another artist grabs your attention.  Although it was nice of our host to record some newer material for this sequel, the fact that he seems to believe that his fans should now pay for the last five tracks on here, all of which appeared in the exact same form on the original Fear Of God mixtape (except maybe "Alone In Vegas", which I seem to remember being a bit longer, but oh well), is a bit disconcerting.  Still, the project as a whole flows much more consistently than the mixtape version ever did.  Pusha T's experimentation with other producers still doesn't produce the overly winning results he's been hoping for (seriously, where's the Kanye beat?), but he proves himself to be more malleable than you may have believed, as he adapts comfortably to whatever is playing in his background.  Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray isn't a perfect EP, but it works well enough to sap you of your time for about forty-five minutes.  Still, this doesn't fully sell me on the idea of a full-length Pusha T solo album.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

There's some more stuff with both halves of the Clipse to be found by clicking here.

A Reader's Gut Reaction: Pharoahe Monch - W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (March 22, 2011)

(Today's Reader Review comes from Harris Shap, who skips ahead in Pharoahe Monch's solo catalog in favor of discussing his third album, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades). Leave your thoughts for him below.)

Pharoahe Monch is an emcee people should really know more about. His work as one-half of the duo Organized Konfusion is fantastic, and after they broke up, he went on to deliver two solo albums (Internal Affairs and Desire) that, in my mind, are bonafide classics. His flow is unmistakable, and the shit he does with his lyrics verges on mind-blowing. And yet, he’s both underrated and overlooked, shat upon by the music industry, and has forced his fans to suffer through long wait times between albums. So when I looked up his name in the sidebar and only found a write-up for his first album, Internal Affairs, I knew it was a situation that had to be rectified.

Monch only had a short four years to record and release his third effort (and his first for Duck Down Records), W.A.R. (We Are Renegades), as opposed to the better part of a decade it took him to unleash Desire. Let’s see how Monch performs under deadlines that other artists would go so far as to call “a reasonable timeframe.”

1. THE WARNING (FEAT. IDRIS ELBA)

Well, it looks like Monch has expanded upon his weird sci-fi interests on this album. I'm not sure how he managed to hire Idris Elba, a British actor you probably know as Stringer Bell from The Wire (you should also check him out on the excellent British TV series Luther. Seriously. The man's got chops). It’s weird that Monch managed to get an actual actor for his rap album intro and not a weed carrier who considers Scarface to be the peak of cinema. Whatever dirt he has on Elba, it must be considerable. I’m actually going to advocate listening to this intro, as Elba’s voice is badass, the sci-fi vibe is weird enough to be entertaining, and Monch's production builds really good momentum into the next track. Yes, that's right, this skit actually had good production.

2. CALCULATED AMALGAMATION

Now this is how you open an album. Triumphant horns lift you up, and an agonized, frantic wail smacks you right back down. The eerie, pulsing instrumental (from something called the Lion's Share Music Group...yeah, me neither) backs Monch’s lyrics, which would sound like boasts on any other backdrop but come across as cold statements of fact against this one. A masterful mission statement, one that only runs for two-and-a-half minutes. One verse, no hook. Similar structurally to the title track on Common’s Be, but completely different tonally.

3. EVOLVE

Another really good beat, this time from Exile. This track uses an ethereal choir to back another one of Monch’s one verse run-ons, and, like the previous track, it really works. Monch brings his A-game lyrically, deifying himself through some great imagery and absolutely tearing the song apart with his internal rhymes. There’s one line on here that’s positively masturbatory. You’ll know it when you hear it, as Exile drops the beat out specifically to tell you it’s happening. This is some good shit.

4. W.A.R. (FEAT. IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE & VERNON REID)

I can see where Monch was going with this: a big, powerful track, similar to what he did with the title track on Desire, which also came in at about the same point on that album. But where “Desire” was a powerful, soulful release after the tension of “Free” (just go listen to Desire, you two), “W.A.R.” feels blustery and unnecessary after the quiet power of the last track. Immortal Technique’s hook sounds cartoonish against a beat that really doesn’t hit as hard as he needs it to. The song also suffers for Monch’s vocals, which aren’t nearly angry enough for the track to work. Vernon Reid (of Living Colour fame) lays down some electric guitar over the track, which at least gives it a unique sound, but it isn't enough. This just feels lacking.

5. CLAP (ONE DAY) (FEAT. SHOWTYME & DJ BOOGIE BLIND)

The M-Phazes beat is really damn good, using chopped-up vocals and some skillful scratching by DJ Boogie Blind to build a soulful cacophony that really suits Monch’s inner-city subject matter. The hook by Showtyme is short and to the point, contributing some of the great soul sound he added to Monch’s previous project. Monch’s lyricism is aces, as usual. His breakdown over the handclaps at the end is pretty damn sweet.

6. BLACK HAND SIDE (FEAT. STYLES P & PHONTE)

Styles P (of The Lox) absolutely makes this track. His verse doesn’t transcend time and space or anything, but it provides some naked emotionality and a sense of vulnerability that is almost completely absent from the rest of the album, due to Monch’s constant posturing and arcane wordplay. Not that what Monch does is bad: it’s what you sign on for whenever you listen to his music. But the guest verse is like a breath of fresh air. Monch said in an interview that he wanted the song to feel like a cool drink of water after the earlier tracks, and it actually is. Phonte’s hook runs a little long, and Monch’s verse is completely forgettable after Styles P's, but the song still works, especially with the mournful strings on the beat.

7. LET MY PEOPLE GO

Monch starts to rebuild the energy that he lost with the last two downbeat tracks, using a carnival-esque instrumental and a riff on a classic gospel song as the hook. It works, although Monch comes across as more of a cranky old man than one of rap’s elder statesmen when he bitches for a few lines about how low kids wear their pants these days. Fun and upbeat, but entirely disposable.

8. SHINE (FEAT. MELA MACHINKO)

Diamond D’s stripped-down xylophone beat (never thought I’d use that particular combination of words) is strange, but it works really well with Monch’s flow, which flows much more quickly on this track than on most of the others on here. A nice change-up from the heavy soul sounds from the last four tracks, but I’m not sure it’d sound as good on its own: the beat is just too fucking weird. I’m not exactly sure why this was chosen to be the first single, since pretty much every other song on this album could be considered more accessible. I've warmed up to it, though, and Monch sounds really good on here.

9. HAILE SELASSIE KARATE (FEAT. MR. PORTER)

God, this fucking track. I’ve seen a lot of people commend this as a standout, but this sucks shit through a straw. Mr. Porter delivers an awful hook, the beat rattles around like an old broken-down car and sucks all the energy out of the track (I think there might be a reversed bass loop, which would explain it, but I can’t confirm), and Monch is on complete autopilot. Despite a silly-ass intro that claims that “you will only hear racial shit”, there’s not a lot of stuff about race (or anything) to be found on here. In Paul Edwards' book How to Rap, O.C. explained that Monch tends to write down lines and use them five years later. This sounds like a track entirely made up of those dated lines, just a bunch of scattershot phrases without anything driving them or solid punchlines to make them worth listening to. Luckily, this track is short, so you might not need to skip over it.

10. THE HITMAN

Here’s Monch’s obligatory “why the music industry sucks” track, which at first glance might seem repetitive, since complaining about the music industry is essentially all that Monch does at this point in his career. But here’s the thing: with an entire song devoted to the topic, he actually gets to talk about his favorite punching bag in depth, which makes this track much more entertaining than the endless lip-service on the topic that he fills the rest of his songs with. Here’s the other thing: the M-Phazes beat fucking knocks, sounding like something straight out of a Tarantino flick. Twangy bass always gets me.

11. ASSASSINS (FEAT. JEAN GRAE & ROYCE DA 5'9”)

This is unquestionably the best track on the album. Jean Grae completely rips the shit out of her verse, riding the M-Phazes beat like a rocket-powered racehorse. Monch raps faster than usual when he jumps on the mic, but after the breathtaking intensity of Grae’s verse, he can’t help but seem a little weak (although ending on “Fuck you, pay me!” helps remedy the situation). Then, after a short mid-song skit that builds the tension to dizzying levels, Royce da 5’9’’ steps in to close out the song with a verse that absolutely oozes confidence and power, dropping wordplay that rivals some of Monch’s best lines from his entire catalog. The instrumental knocks, and the weird sci-fi concept lets the three emcees take their braggadocio completely over the top. This should have been the lead single.

12. THE GRAND ILLUSION (CIRCA 1973) (FEAT. CITIZEN COPE)

You know, Monch’s lyrics on here are pretty damn good, and the whole classic rock vibe isn’t one he’s really tapped into, so this could have been an interesting departure from the rest of the album. That is, if it weren’t boring as fuck. It contains what must be the longest fucking hook I’ve ever heard (or at least the most tedious) . Let me put this in perspective: the hook is fifty seconds long. That’s almost a minute! One of Monch’s actual verses runs a few seconds shorter! How does this even happen? Why they put this slow, rambling mess after the high-octane “Assassins” is way beyond me.

13. STILL STANDING (FEAT. JILL SCOTT)

This was a great way to end the album. Soaring strings, a powerful hook by Scott that doesn’t drag the song down, and a slightly more down-to-earth Monch that delivers some fantastic bars about his asthma. Scott ultimately gets the final word with her sung verse, which surprises me: I expected Monch to drop in another crazy sci-fi skit. But it’s a fitting finale.

THE LAST WORD: The biggest detriment to W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) is its homogeneity. Unfortunately, the whole “We Are Renegades” concept makes the entire album about confrontation, which restricts the emotional tone that Monch feels like he can work with. Unlike Desire, where there are triumphant songs, sad songs, evil songs, and just-plain-crazy songs, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) is mostly made up of angry songs, and I don't even mean engaging, N.W.A. levels of angry: I mean he sounds like an irritated old man. On the other hand, the songs are pretty damn good on an individual level, and when you cut out some of the chaff, the album is a pretty tight piece of art. And let’s not forget that even at his most inane (“Simon Says,” if that was even a question) Monch is an incredible lyricist, dropping tongue-twisting, intelligent shit all over beats that range from really good to, well, “Haile Selassie Karate.” Whatever complaints I have are negated by the fact that this album is just quality music, plain and simple. This may not be as enthusiastic a write-up as it would have been for Monch’s previous work (or his Organized Konfusion shit), but I still recommend a buy nonetheless. Support Monch, and maybe he’ll be able to cut down the time between his albums even more drastically.

-Harris Shap

(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave your thoughts below.)

My Gut Reaction: Mobb Deep - Black Cocaine (November 21, 2011)

A quick reminder for the two readers out there: I do not compare an artist's album with one from another artist.  That would be completely unfair.  (I imagine that the folks who contribute Reader Reviews do the same, but I can't speak for them.)  It doesn't make sense to compare Liquid Swords to, say, Take Care.  (No, that's a terrible example, because it somehow draws the conclusion that I think Drake's Take Care is a fantastic album, when the reality is that I haven't even listened to it yet.  I may as well be comparing Liquid Swords to YooHoo chocolate drink.)  The only comparison that I can make is with the other projects in an artist's catalog: this means that the only act I can compare the fallen rap duo Mobb Deep with is the Mobb Deep of the past.  

Which is also an entirely unfair judgment.

Havoc and Prodigy have the misfortune of having recorded two of the finest examples of our chosen genre's brilliance, The Infamous and Hell On Earth.  This is considered a negative instead of a positive because all of the rest of their work, from Murda Muzik to their shitty G-Unit-tainted effort Blood Money to their newest EP Black Cocaine, is held up to that gold standard, when there is no way that these two will ever clear that hurdle.  In terms of rappers from the mid-1990s era who still work today, I'll go on record as saying that there hasn't been quite a fall from lyrical grace as painful to watch as there has been for Prodigy, whose microphone skills have deteriorated in such a rapid fashion that I'm surprised nobody has questioned whether or not he ever wrote his own lyrics before.

Black Cocaine is the first Mobb Deep effort recorded and released after Prodigy returned home from a stint in prison.  It's an EP because the Mobb didn't want to wait to get new product out on the streets: they were looking for instant gratification.  In reality, the remaining fans in Mobb Deep's world are thrilled that they severed ties with Curtis Jackson's G-Unit Records, and are confused that they would release an EP that consists of only five tracks when you know they have a shit-ton of songs in the vault.  Maybe Havoc and Prodigy are saving their best stuff for their next full-length project; maybe they don't like the majority of what they've already recorded and are actually exercising some quality control.

Nah.

1.  DEAD MAN'S SHOES

The first two phrases heard during Prodigy's horrendous chorus are "Eat food!" and "I'm full!": hardly what you would expect from the guy who wrote...well, any fucking song on Hell On Earth or The Infamous.  I mean, seriously, what the fuck, man?  Cellblock P's verse is also pretty awful, immediately destroying any potential goodwill that he may have earned from his The Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP earlier this year.  He isn't alone in shouldering the blame for the rap abortion known as "Dead Man's Shoes", though: Havoc sounds lazy as shit, with his unnecessary taunts that hold no real threat behind them.  With just this one song, Mobb Depp have proven that some rap artists really need to retire and move the fuck on, which is a terrible position for my write-up to be in right now, since it's only the first goddamn song on Black Cocaine.  The Bounty Killer vocal sample during the hook was an interesting choice for producer Beat Butcha to work into the instrumental (which wasn't entirely terrible), and have you seen the no-budget video Hav and P shot for this shit?  It aims for bleak and gory but ends up nailing artless and hilariously awful, especially with the "graphic violence" that's so fake that they may as well have poured the fake blood directly onto your head.  Wow, this was a long paragraph.

2.  BLACK COCAINE

Methinks Havoc was so thrilled about his partner-in-rhyme being home that he let him record whatever bullshit he wanted for the chorus to both "Dead Man's Shoes" and this title track, and believe me when I say that the hook on here is somehow even worse than on the previous song.  However, Cellblock P actually sounds okay during his verse, which was unexpected.  Havoc's contribution over The Alchemist's instrumental was pretty inconsequential (hell, the beat annoyed the shit out of me too, as it sounds like Al cribbed the idea from the theme music to The Young & The Restless), but Prodigy actually sounded like a version of his old self on here.  Yeah, I said it.  A terrible song, but a decent verse, nonetheless.

3.  CONQUER

Havoc's lone production credit on Black Cocaine uses a sample I last heard on LL Cool J's "The Ripper Strikes Back", and pairs it with an equally epic song title, "Conquer".  Cellblock P once again nearly loses the entire audience with a lame-ass hook, but he salvages everything in the end with another alright performance.  I realize that Mobb Deep will absolutely motherfucking never reach the heights that The Infamous and Hell On Earth (and, to a lesser extent, Murda Muzik) achieved, both musically and lyrically, but all I ask is for an entertaining diversion that doesn't entirely suck.  This might be that diversion for you.  It is for me, anyway.  And yes, my standards have dropped pretty low whenever Havoc and Prodigy are concerned.  But I still liked this track okay.

4.  GET IT FOREVER (FEAT. NAS)

This was surprisingly good, and I say "surprisingly" because producer The Alchemist throws the beat at the audience unexpectedly amid a dialogue sample, not unlike how Prodigy would threaten to throw a television set at you back in the day.  As with Infamy's "The Learning (Burn)", Prodigy comes thisclose to fucking everything up by contributing a piss-poor verse to an otherwise decent (by 2011 standards) Mobb Deep song (although none of his bars are as shitty as "You'se a bitch-ass n---a, I should have you killed", from the aforementioned "The Learning (Burn)").  His chorus sucks, though.  It's really really bad.  Luckily, Havoc and a wholly-unconnected Nas, who seems to have recorded his verse in a different timeline, brings "Get It Forever" back into the fold.  I have a feeling that I enjoyed Nasir's rudimentary verse a lot more than you two did, but oh well.

5.  LAST DAYS

Black Cocaine ends just as it began, with a crappy song that may as well have been recorded by entirely different duo.  Havoc has never sounded more like Pusha T in his life, and that is a bad thing, kids: the man has been around since the early 1990s and really should have found his own voice by now.  Cellblock P's verse begins promisingly, but then dives into his "millionaire problems" that not only isolates him from his few remaining fans, but also shows that he hasn't changed a bit since prison: since the world itself has since changed, Produgy proves that he is incapable of adaptation, which is a huge fucking problem.  Young Free's beat is faux-dramatic and not entirely shitty, but isn't good enough to save the song.  Or the EP.

The following two bonus tracks are only available on the limited edition version of Black Cocaine that was found exclusively at independent record stores, although they were released as freebies to hip hop blogs long ago, so they're not especially difficult to find.

6.  WATERBOARDING

Well, this was unexpected: Mobb Deep use The Alchemist's uncharacteristically moving instrumental to pay homage to Handsome Boy Modeling School's "Waterworld".  I'm only half kidding: Al's beat uses the same Marc Moulin "Tohubohu Part I" sample as what the Automator and Prince Paul gave Encore (to his credit, though, he does use a bit more of the original source material, but the end result is still obsessed with water).  Hav and P don't sound bad: this slower, slightly menacing musical backing is their friend.  Cellblock P's hook is predictably garbage, but I'm tired of telling you two that: just assume from this point forward that all of Prodigy's hooks are ass.  The song itself was alright.

7.  STREET LIGHTS (FEAT. DION PRIMO)

Finally, a track that doesn't feature Prodigy on the chorus!  It's just too bad that this rare sighting takes place on a song that most of you two won't actually have on your copy of Black Cocaine, as the site you downloaded it illegally from store you bought it from probably only had the five-track EP.  The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League lends the Mobb a beat that fits them like a pair of jeans that are seventeen sizes too small: "Street Lights" sounds like one of the shittier outtakes from Infamy.  Dion Primo's hook could have been assigned to anybody: he sounds okay, but there's no way his chorus was written with Mobb Deep in mind.  Hav and P are running out of chances to impress me before I seriously consider ignoring the fuck out of them outright.  Besides, it's not like they're bringing anything new to the culture anymore.  Come on, fuckers, prove me wrong.

THE LAST WORD:  Sporadic sparks of decency over the course of a five- (or seven-) track EP are not enough to justify a continued career in hip hop, but with Black Cocaine, Mobb Deep seem to be hoping that you won't notice how lazy this shit sounds, but instead will simply get excited over the fact that Mobb Deep released some new music.  There isn't anything on here that could even be mistaken as crucial: although I liked a couple of the tracks, absolutely none of this shit reaches even the stunningly low bar that I had for the duo after the excruciatingly awful Blood Money.  Havoc must have eaten food and gotten full, because he doesn't have that hunger in his voice that helped the last few Mobb Deep efforts at least not completely suck, and his need to have Prodigy perform every single goddamn horrible chorus is questionable enough to have his publishing revoked.  Speaking of Cellblock P, he vacillates between terrible rhymes written by a third grader and what amounts to Xeroxes of what he has done on better songs in the past (think "Quiet Storm" forward).  Black Cocaine took a while to find a release date after Prodigy left prison, but the fucking thing still sounds like a quick cash-in.  How is that even possible?  Readers are strongly urged to pretend that Black Cocaine doesn't even exist, it's that useless as a tool for entertainment.

-Max

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Reader Review: Ice Cube - Raw Footage (August 19, 2008)

(Today's Reader Review comes from Taylor, who took it upon himself to look into one of Ice Cube's later albums, 2008's Raw Footage. Given that my current schedule has me avoiding all of his newer stuff at all costs, I figured this would be the best way to open up a discussion about O'Shea Jackson. Leave Taylor some comments below.)

My first taste of Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson) came after listening to two of his songs in the virtual streets of San Andreas, “It Was a Good Day” and “Check Yo Self (Remix)”. Quickly afterward, I acted on instinct, purchasing The Predator (which, conveniently, contained both tracks...well, the original version of “Check Yo' Self”, anyway). Which I thought to be the shit.

Years later, I've come to realized that most everything released today is glossed-up, polished, and comes mostly from the South. I don't treat The Predator with the same level of reverence as I did (after listening to AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and Death Certificate, I put The Predator aside), but I still like the album as a whole. So when I heard that Ice Cube was going to release Raw Footage, “his most political album since The Predator” (Wikipedia's words, not mine), I had my doubts that it would live up to my expectations.

Many people hoped that Raw Footage would be Ice Cube's return to the raw, unfiltered political lyrics that defined his early career. As the release date grew closer, reviews poured in declaring the album to be the best thing since sliced bread, and that Ice Cube was at the top of his game. I wanted to believe the critics so badly that I went out, copped a copy of the album, popped it into my CD player, listened to it all the way through, and then it quickly ended up on the shelf collecting dust.

Years later, I find myself writing a review of Raw Footage. I haven't listened to this in a while: in fact, I sold my original copy of the album on eBay for the low price of three dollars (hardly enough to recoup the fourteen bucks I spent on the thing). You may be asking yourself, can Ice Cube bring back his raw, unfiltered style and make Raw Footage his most political album yet?

The obvious answer to these questions and a lot more is: no.

1. WHAT IS A PYROCLASTIC FLOW? (FEAT. KEITH DAVID)

Man, Ice Cube really likes to treat his albums like films, huh? This useless rap album intro (performed by actor Keith David, who is no way underground or gangsta) is overly dramatic, overly distracting, and seems to set up a movie that you would not spend your money to see. And this is supposed to be Ice Cube's “most political album since The Predator”, mind you.

2. I GOT MY LOCS ON (FEAT. YOUNG JEEZY)

Did Ice Cube really think this Southern abomination pretending to be a West Coast bomb would work on Raw Footage? I can see that being with Ice Cube has really inspired Young Jeezy lyrically, as he adds nothing of value to the track and sucks donkey dick. Ice Cube fares no better; hell, at this point he's probably on the same level as Young Jeezy lyrically. This entire song can be best described in one word: ass.

3. IT TAKES A NATION

Ice Cube mentions in the beginning of the song that he is the eighth wonder of the world, but nothing on this track warrants that self-applied moniker. Cube declares that he won't concede to the mainstream and tells Viacom, Clear Channel and Radio One to fuck off, but I don't really buy that bullshit, especially since his previous album had songs that appealed to a mainstream audience that aired on both Clear Channel and Radio One stations, and he's made movies that appeal specifically to family audiences, which is far from the gangsta persona he believes he still embodies. Hey O'Shea, how's that movie deal with Disney coming along?

4. GANGSTA RAP MADE ME DO IT

I have to admit, this a good song to bang to when you're cruising down the streets of your hood (or the streets of Midnight Club: Los Angeles), but when you're forced to sit down and listen to the lyrics, you'll find the lyrical holes becoming more evident, bringing the entire song down. There was a video made for this song that but I barely remember anything from. Well, except for the fact that it proved Cube has not gotten with the times (in 2008); what, no Hurricane Katrina reference?

5. HOOD MENTALITY (FEAT. KEITH DAVID)

Ice Cube needs to learn that albums that think of themselves as movies are supposed to have a consistent storyline. The Predator didn't have any of this Keith David movie bullshit. Anyway, the bouncy beat does not fit well with Cube's lyrics about living with a hood mentality (or was he talking about other people who want to live with hood mentality? I couldn't tell). I was surprised when he mentioned he wanted to make everybody around him suffer: I guess this is why he created the Are We There Yet? movie series (and that sitcom of the same name on TBS).

6. WHY ME? (FEAT. MUSIQ SOULCHILD)

I really like the beat on this one, even though it might be a bit too peppy, and Musiq Soulchild sounds alright on the chorus. However, I'm pretty sure that Cube rapped about the exact same topic just one track ago. Or was it on a previous album? It's all starting to blend together for me. Regardless, this was just okay.

7. COLD PLACES

Meh.

8. JACK N THE BOX (FEAT. KEITH DAVID)

With that title, I assumed that Cube would rhyme about the popular fast food chain that seems to be prominent in California, but instead, he uses the allotted time to talk about how great he is and how he's stacking much more money then you, thereby undermining and compromising his own political views. What, you thought he bragged about money on Death Certificate? Nope! 50 Cent's production team Tha Bizness provides a banging beat, but it's marred by the fact that they literally copied it from a song called “Ghetto Commandments”, which was featured on the soundtrack for an Adult Swim special called Freaknik: The Musical, which kind of obscures this song's very existence since there are two songs with the same identical beat, one featuring Ice Cube and the other starring both Mac Maine and Snoop Dogg. Still, it would have been hilarious if he had literally rapped about Jack In The Box and their delicious food.

9. DO YA THING

Yawn. The only notable thing about this track is that it somehow reached number fifteen on the Billboard “Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles” chart, but this fact is rendered meaningless by the fact that “Weird Al” Yankovic reached number one on the very same chart, and he's a comedian who parodies pop songs! (Not to say he can't rap, though.) Moving on...

10. THANK GOD

Another shitty cinematic intro which leads into a shitty song. The best thing about this is the instrumental, which Cube wastes as though it were just another Coors Light paycheck. I thought this song would be about how the police, various corporations, and political figures have made everybody's life hard and what he would do to combat this, but I guess I was wrong. Damn you, O'Shea, for lying to me during the intro!

11. HERE HE COME (FEAT. DOUGHBOY)

I don't think anybody would really enjoy listening to Ice Cube and his weed-carrying son Doughboy rhyme over an ironically godawful shitstorm of a beat (ironic because the producer's name is Symphony, as in “a harmonious combination of elements”). Pass!

12. GET MONEY, SPEND MONEY, NO MONEY

This track is supposed to be about poor people who get money, and then foolishly spend all of their money very quickly, only finding themselves to be poor again. I thought this song was going to resonate with me, but then I realized that Ice Cube has lots of money: why hasn't he given any of that money to the poor? Emile's beat is alright, but that's where it stops.

13. GET USE TO IT (FEAT. WC & THE GAME)

No fucking way O'Shea! I don't have to “Get Use To It” (“it” being improper grammar?), I can do something about it! Maybe I can concoct a plan to get rid of Ice Cube and The Game while somehow leaving WC intact. Hmmmm.....

14. TOMORROW

I like this song, but I fucking love this beat. Now this is what I'm talking about:for the first time on Raw Footage, Ice Cube sounds somewhat revitalized (I say “somewhat” because he still hasn't fully kicked the bullshit), rapping his ass off. I guess he was waiting for the proper musical backing, but with only two tracks left, this comes in too late. Still, I liked this shit.

15. STAND TALL

Cube made a smart decision putting these last few tracks together. This beat is a bit more mellow, but it's still amazing nonetheless. O'Shea sounds reinvigorated (he's staying on topic, at least); now if only he had enlisted more producers among the likes of Warryn Campbell and DJ Crazy Toones, Raw Footage would have at least been decent rather than fucking horrible.

16. TAKE ME AWAY (FEAT. BUTCH CASSIDY)

Ice Cube attempts to be clever, mentioning that he had a good day. How in the hell can you have a good day when this album presents images of corrupt police, violence and poor living conditions amongst his people? Oh that's right, Ice Cube doesn't live in the ghetto anymore! On here, he contradicts everything that he allegedly believes over a beat that sounds like ass, changing his stance faster then a rapper jumping onto the latest trends. Not like any of that matters, since you'd barely remember anything long after the song fades out.

(There are also a number of bonus tracks that are available depending on where you but Raw Footage: for example, the remix to “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It”, featuring both Nas and Scarface, is only available on iTunes. Or if you search other rap blogs, of course.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: Let's be honest: Raw Footage is polished horseshit that tries to disguise itself as an underground album. Ice Cube's first political effort since The Predator ends up sounding deceptive for those of you who actually stood in line to buy the album. When he's not talking about politics, he's talking about himself, and most of Raw Footage sounds like he was trying too hard to appeal to the West Coast. This album may have gotten good reviews, but don't believe the hype: there is nothing on this album that is worth hearing, except maybe the tracks listed below. Only hardcore collectors need apply.

BUY OR BURN? Avoid this shit at all costs.

BEST TRACKS: “Tomorrow”; “Stand Tall”

-Taylor

(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave your thoughts below.)