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| Noreaga- God's Favorite: It's interesting that Victor (N.O.R.E.) Santiago commences this bangin' collection of thug rap with an apology for his last effort. He was unfocused, understandably, with the loss to jail time of his partner in the erstwhile Capone-n-Noreagea duo Kiam "Capone" Holley. But he rapidly shows he's going to set matters to rights with a swift one-two punch to gangsta rapper pretenders in "Nothin'," and a freewheeling track called "Grimey" that's one of the most commercial cuts on offer here. GOD'S FAVORITE finds N.O.R.E. back on top of his game in a wide-ranging set that encompasses hard-core gangsta rap and a lift from Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time." The album is prefaced by a collection of skit phone calls from Santiago's peers including Nelly, Ice T, and Nas, all paying their respects to this lifer's return to form in the street-life stakes. He shows their respect is justified again and again on cuts such as "Mr. CEO," a skewering of big money in the music biz, and "Live My Life" which features an appearance from the inimitably throaty Ja Rule. But ultimately it's in the regretful, angry "Black Clouds" that we get a true glimpse into the rapper's tortured soul. 7 OUT OF 10 |
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| P. Diddy- We Invented The Remix: Don't believe the hype: Bad Boy Records did not invent the remix, the company has just done a good job using it. But the past is the past. Don't come here if you're looking for Puffy's earlier groundbreaking work with the likes of Jodeci and Super Cat. The "hits" here are of a more recent vintage, and if these remixes are any indication, it seems Diddy has reached the bottom of his bag of tricks. Screeching bells, Ghostface Killah, and the return of the MacK (Craig Mack) give G. Dep's "Special Delivery" (from last year's Child of the Ghetto) that hyped Bad Boy flavor of yore, but it's all downhill from there. Lines like "We used to drive the whole city wild" make listening to "I Need a Girl," Puffy's maudlin ode to ex-squeeze J. Lo, a cringe-inducing experience, and the producer-rapper's painfully weak rhyme ruins Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama." Most disturbing is Puffy's crass opportunism: Biggie's "voice from the grave" duet with Ashanti (on "Unfoolish") is downright creepy and ultimately unnecessary. Puff, I know you mean well by using old Biggie rhymes, but you are destroying his legacy every time you do it to sell your albums. 5 OUT OF 10 |
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| Nature- Wild Gremlinz: From the very first moments of WILD GREMLINZ, Nature makes it clear that he differs from many of his hip-hop contemporaries. For starters, how many frozen-frown rappers would be likely to open their album with the sound of unbridled laughter? How many thug-life obsessives would follow that with a sincere-sounding thank you to all of their listeners? On a deeper level, Nature lays out his mission statement right away, declaring that "this ain't that radio sh-t, it's that street-corner hip-hop." Unusually colorful synthesizer textures adorn the tracks, on which Nature manages to delve into street-real scenarios without ever sounding like a braggart, fake, or showoff. Big disappointment that Nature did not include the Nas diss track and he did not have Trackmasters do beats on the album, cuz other than the beat that Megahertz did, the albums beats need some work. 6 OUT OF 10 |