| Reviews |
 |
| Fat Joe- Loyalty: The Bronx's favorite son, the portly Hispanic rapper known affectionately as Fat Joe, has been kicking street-real rhymes for years, whether on his own or bolstered by an impressive posse including the likes of Remy Martin. No matter how gangsta he gets, though, its difficult not to like Fat Joe, whose warm, organic lyrical flow is more engaging than off-putting. Thematically, he's more focused on old-school braggadocio than on any overt threats of crime and violence. Like any good rapper, Fat Joe makes himself his main subject on LOYALTY. Production that mixes pop-friendly hooks and bubbling funk with R&B and cutting-edge hip-hop provides just the right framework for Joe's vibrant raps. Stellar guest appearances from Scarface and Ginuwine don't hurt the proceedings either. 8 OUT OF 10 |
 |
| Ja Rule- The Last Temptation: Ja Rule is a rapper who clearly has the whole bread/butter equation down cold. On his second album he broke through to superstardom by tempering his hard-guy front with some accessible pop/R&B flavoring and the occasional touch of relative sensitivity (the beefcake promo photos didn't hurt his appeal with young girls either). Since then, he's been pursuing the ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach. On his fourth album THE LAST TEMPTATION, Ja continues to pursue the mix of hardcore thug rap and radio-ready pop hooks that's proven so successful in the past. On "The Pledge Remix", Irv Gotti jacks the 2pac intro and the beat to the classic "So Many Tears". Nas comes off nice on the song, but Ja gives a weak indirect diss at Snoop. The song "Delirious" with Ashanti sounds too much like Smilez & Southstar's single. "Thug Lovin" with Bobby Brown and "Connected" featuring Crooked I and Eastwood are the only real banging songs on the album. Ja needs to stop with all the sampling and posing like 2pac and just focus on making ORIGINAL MUSIC! 5 OUT OF 10 |
 |
| Bone Thugs N Harmony- Thug World Order: Since the mid-'90s, Cleveland's own Bone Thugs N Harmony have been perpetrating their own peculiar, wildly successful brand of accessible thug rap. TWO seems to intensify the stylistic schizophrenia inherent in the Midwestern quartet's mixture of gangsta attitude and infectious hooks. On the one hand, there's a snippet of the group's late mentor Eazy-E testifying to the reality of the thug life depicted in the Bone Thugs' lyrics. On the other hand, there's the sweet, chiming sound of R&B sirens 3LW on "Get Up & Get It," which also boasts an undeniably positive message. And any group that can maintain a street-real image while conspicuously sampling Phil Collins ("Home") has got to have something going on(It is the next single and it will blow up once it is released). The rapid-fire vocal delivery that's always been a trademark is present here as well, of course, ensuring that longtime fans will remain on board for the THUG WORLD ORDER. The only problem I have with the album is their is not enough production from DJ Uneek. He produced almost all of the previous albums. Other banging cuts include: "Set It Straight", "Money, Money", hell the whole album. Stop bullshittin and cop it!!! 9 OUT OF 10 |