Nas - Illmatic THROWBACK ALBUM REVIEW

1994. Twenty years ago this month. The world would listen upon a hip hop album that would change the industry forever. Who would have thought that this short ten track album by a then twenty year old kid from Queens would have such a massive impact on the music industry. It was certainly unexpected at that time. Now before I continue with this let me get this out. Anyone that personally knows me knows that I am a big time Nas fan. He is the sole reason why I got into hip hop music in the first place. Once I bought and listened to his 1999 album I Am, I was instantly hooked. So even though you won't find many people who don't like this album, I'm just warning you all now to expect plenty of bias in this throwback review (as well as future Nas reviews). Anyway back to the topic. This album was a game changer on so many levels. At that time in hip hop, it was all west coast and east coast yes, but a lot of it was mainstream. Nas dropped this album at a time where lyricism was being taken for granted. His lyricism, rhyme pattern, flow and knack for good story telling pretty much forced his peers to step it up. He made some MC's change lyrically, he made them change how to approach story telling, he even made some change their flow and rhyme style completely. Of course because of that, it would lead to a few feuds and battles with other New York MC's (which is a whole other story. Listen to "Last Real Nigga Alive").  Then there's the production on this album which was just flat out brilliant. Handled by the likes of DJ Premier, Large Professor, L.E.S., Pete Rock and others. They were boom-bap styled beats that could only fit the powerful lyrical words of Nas and really brought his stories that he told to life. Let me now break down what I loved about this album, which was pretty much everything. After the intro, the album begins with the track "New York State Of Mind". Right from the gate Nas punches you with a brute lyrical force. That opening verse is one of the best, and longest, I've ever heard in my life. "Rappers I monkey flip em with the funky rhythm I be kickin/Musician, inflicting composition/of pain I'm like Scarface sniffing cocaine/Holding a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now/Bullet holes left in my peepholes I'm suited up in street clothes/Hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes...". But the ending lines of this verse sums up the whole song and possible the album: ""Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined/I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind". See this album just paints such a vivid picture of a young man's world growing up in the violent surroundings of the projects in Queens. It at times feels like a short life story on wax. The next track "Life's A Bitch" is another favorite of mine. It features fellow Queens native and friend AZ who's the only guest feature on the album. Quite frankly, no other feature was needed after AZ dropped such a superior guest verse. It's a track where the two rap about accomplishing it all before their day comes to see the reaper. This includes acts of crime. It's powerful words because you can picture some of New York's greatest gangsters and drug dealers thinking and saying this kind of stuff. Seems like that who's being channeled in this song. Speaking of, the next favorite is the Tony Montana inspired "The World Is Yours". Here Nas spits as a guy who has just risen to power from the drug game. This track was brilliantly produced by Pete Rock who's also does the hook. Of course this is the song that ends with the iconic line "I'm out for presidents to represent me". Which of course would be later sampled by Jay-Z on his classic hit "Dead Presidents". "Memory Lane (Sittin' In The Park)" finds him reminiscing on old times growing up. It's again another lyrical assault with booming opening lines: "I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners/Hennessey holders and old school niggas, then I be dissin a unofficial that smoke woolie thai/I dropped out of Kooley High, gassed up by a coke head cutie pie/Jungle survivor, fuck who's the liver/My man put the battery in my back, a difference from Energizer/Sentence begins indented with formality/My duration's infinite, money wise or physiology/Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop/I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block/I reminisce on park jams, my man was shot for his sheep coat/Chocolate blunts make me see him drop in my weed smoke". I know that was a lot but it's so dope I had to extend it a little. Nas's poetic skill set is so vividly present on this album. Prime example: "One Love". This was just so brilliant on many levels. The song is basically a letter to his homie who's locked down. Telling him how things are going, some reminiscing and other stuff. Q-Tip produced this track and produced it so well. I love the eerie xylophones that goes so well with the songs topic. The album closes out the same way it began with mind bending lyricism. The track "It Ain't Hard To Tell". Large Professor dropped a gem here with this beat. But Nas's lyrics just totally makes you forget about the beat. "It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail/The mic is contacted, I attract clientele/My mic check is life or death, breathing a sniper's breath/I exhale the yellow smoke of Buddha through righteous steps". All the other tracks, "Halftime", "One Time 4 Your Mind" and yet another DJ Premier masterpiece "Represent" were all so incredibly dope. In closing, there's really nothing more I can say about this. You would be hard pressed to find any rapper, especially the new young lyricists, who would say they haven't been influenced in some sort of way by Illmatic. Of course this gets the classic grade of a A+. As I mentioned in the beginning, this month makes twenty years since it's release. To celebrate, Nas will be re-releasing this album along with a few newly recorded tracks. You know, to call Illmatic a classic just isn't enough. This album changed the course of hip hop history. It laid down the blue print on poetic lyricism  and story telling. It is an album that not only is one of the best in hip hop's history, but in the history of music period. It is timeless. It is immortal. It is hip hop. End.

Final Grade: A+

CREDITS

Executive Producer

Michael Berrin

Lead Artist

Nasir Jones

Producers

Curtis Martin

Leshan Lewis

Peter Phillips

William Mitchell

Jonathan Davis

Collaborators

Peter Phillips

Anthony Cruz

Label

Columbia Records

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata ALBUM REVIEW

There's a new trend in hip hop and it's becoming bigger and bigger. Collaborative albums between the artist and the producer. Now of course it's not really that new. We've seen plenty rap duos in the past that fit this description (Eric B. & Rakim, Gang Starr to name a few). The difference however is that those were legit groups. We're talking about the random pairing of a producer and a MC. So far it's already seen some huge success. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis being the best example as those two just one a Grammy together. Well now comes hopefully the next big MC/producer tandem in rap. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib. Now Gibbs has been a well known underground name for at least the last half decade. He was at one point a member of Young Jeezy's CTE label (we'll address that later). Then there's Madlib who is one of the most recognized underground producers and musicians in all of hip hop. He's a veteran that's done numerous production and collaborative projects for artists like Talib Kweli, MF Doom, Jay Dilla and so on. So what we have here is two completely different types artists coming together for this much anticipated project. Their debut collaborative album Piñata. For me this is my first time hearing a full project from either of them. Gibbs is coming off of his debut solo album ESGN which dropped in June of last year. Meanwhile Madlib is coming off his third album Yessir Whatever (under the alter ego Quasimoto) which also released last year. Two projects that I unfortunately missed. However, I'm well aware of how different they are. When I heard about this project dropping my immediate thought was how would Freddie Gibbs gangsta street mentality mesh with the soulful, eccentric sounds of Madlib's production. How could they make this work? Well...they did it and did a superior job of it. This album was nothing short of fantastic. A damn near perfect album. Gibbs ad Madlib's different sounds meshed so perfectly together on this track that words can't describe how brilliant it is. The vintage soulful production mixed with Gibbs gangster persona made this sound like a true throwback gangster rap album. Generating a sound you don't hear a lot of today. I mean this literally was an old school gangster film on wax as Freddie Gibbs said himself. There's honestly so much I could say about this album as a whole but I'll keep it short and get right into everything I loved about this album. Right off the back the album started off with a bang. The second track "Scarface" has this strong vintage 1970's sounding production. It sounds like something straight out of a 70's blaxploitation film. Loved it. The next track "Deeper" is where he talks about a girl that left him for another guy because of his gangster or violent ways. It's a dope track because the way he describes this situation is exactly how I expect a thug to interpret it. Calling dude a sucker because he's an astronaut and running into him in the barbershop confronting him and such. That is how a rapper is supposed to tell a story like that. Had this had been a Drake song it would have sounding like a whining soap opera. "High" is a more fast paced jazzy instrumental that samples Freda Payne's "I Get High (On Your Memory)" (remember Styles P. "Good Times"? Same sample). The track features Danny Brown whose wild and bizarre flow on this laid back track was a little too much to take at first but I ultimately ended up liking it. Other faster paced tracks like "Shitsville" and "Uno" were also dope. The more controversial track and the track that had everyone talking was "Real". Now I spoke about him once being a member of CTE. Well that was a while ago when things were cool. Now...not so much. Gibbs attacks, not disses but straight up attacks Young Jeezy on this track. Apparently his separation from CTE wasn't a pretty one. He just goes in hard. Questioning Jeezy's hood cred, him being scared to respond to not only Gibbs but other people Jeezy has feuded with in the past like Rick Ross and Gucci Mane. Whether you're a Jeezy fan or not, you have to think there's some truth to what Gibbs is saying considering the fact that he's been around Jeezy for a while and knows him well. Anyway, this was one of the harshest diss tracks I've heard in a while and I loved it. I loved the zone out and "spacy" sounds of "Bomb". It's very fitting that he put Raekwon on this because this did sound like something straight from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. "Thuggin" was a song the actually dropped a couple years ago and is superbly dope. He continues flexing his gangsta with lines like "pants gonna be saggin' til I'm 40". On "Robes", Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt dropped some seriously dope guest verses on here that truly made the song shine. When I heard the track "Broken", 2Pac immediately came to mind. His flow, the production and the overall sound of it just sounds like 2Pac. Even the stuff he's rapping about sounds like something from Me Against The World. To make it even better, Scarface is on this song and just takes it to the next level with his masterful lyricism. Then there's the Ab-Soul assisted track "Lakers" which then transitions well in to the track "Knicks". Both dope. The final track "Piñata" is a hook-less posse track that features Domo Genesis, G-Wiz, Casey Veggies, Sulaiman, Meechy Darko and Mac Miller. There was not one wack verse on this in my opinion. The beat was also a big change of pace from other ones but still dope nonetheless. I want to also point out all the skits on this album that were all excerpts from old school 70's/80's films. That of course fit perfectly with the theme of this album. I honestly don't have any real negatives with this album. One thing I can say is that with Freddie Gibbs does take some getting used to. His monotone voice drags a bit at times and you sometimes get lost in what he rapping about. With these soulful mellow beats from Madlib it might make it a little worst for some. Not for me though. The only thing I would probably change with this album is it's length. Bonus tracks included it's twenty one tracks. Quite long for a debut. This could have easily been a fourteen/fifteen track album and still would have been just as good. Well in closing, I didn't have any real expectations for this but man did this blow me away. Totally wasn't expecting an album this great. I give this a final grade of an A. I really hope this isn't it for Freddie Gibbs & Madlib. I hope they drop another project because their chemistry is too perfect. This new trend of rapper/producer collabo albums definitely just had it's bar raised by these two guys. Although it's doubtful, we'll see if anyone can top this. As far as I'm concern, this is the blue print for these kind of albums. Take notes. End.

Final Grade: A

CREDITS

Executive Producers

Eothen Alapatt

Ben Lambert

Archibald Bunkers (A&R)

Lead Artist

Fredrick Tipton

Production

Otis Jackson, Jr.

Collaboration

Daniel Sewell

Corey Woods

Domonique Cole

Thebe Kgositsile

Brad Jordan

Herbert Stevens IV

Bryan Sledge

Glenn Browder

Casey Jones

Malcolm McCormick

Label

Madlib Invasion

YG - My Krazy Life ALBUM REVIEW

Well, it's quite clear now that the west coast is back and possibly stronger than ever. No more doubting it. But for a long time the coast was generally known for gangsta rap. That was all you heard in the 90's. Today the coast is putting out all sounds of rap. So much so that gangsta west coast rap seems to be vanishing. At least mainstream wise. If that is the case, it's won't last long. Introducing YG. Compton's newest gangsta rapper. With Kendrick Lamar and TDE taking a more lyrically creative approach to gangsta rap, whose gonna be the one to do something more mainstream with it and put it back on the airwaves. This is where YG comes in. My first introduction to him was when he was on cover of XXL as one of the 2011 XXL Freshmen. From then to this moment now  I've heard no projects from him. The only song I've ever heard from him was "Toot It And Boot It". Wasn't feeling that. But I could hear a little potential in him. So, because I never heard anything from him but one song, I was a little curious for this listening session. This is his debut album My Krazy Life. I kinda hoped prior to listening to this that my original thoughts about him would be diminished. I also hoped that this wouldn't be another one of those "swaggy" California rap albums that I find extremely boring. Turns out it was none of that at all. I overall thought this was a pretty cool album. This was certainly a strong debut for YG. Totally not what I was expecting to hear. Listening to this I could tell the influence comes straight from early 90's west coast gangsta rap. As far as samples and certain content. But that's the small part. The major thing YG did here was kinda combine that vintage old school gangsta sound with today's mainstream sound. Basically gangsta rap on party/"dancy" beats. Some may not like that but I think it's a smart move. Actually, this was kinda the same formula Dr. Dre had for The Chronic. Now calm down I'm not trying to compare this to The Chronic. But it does serve the same purpose as that. Dr. Dre dropped a gangsta rap album with a huge mainstream sound at a time where there was no gangsta rap on the radio. Same thing is happening here with My Krazy Life. This to me is basically YG's attempt at making gangsta rap relevant again mainstream wise. Instead of all the "swag rap" that's coming from there now. Well let  me now get into my positives on this album. First of all, I think the most praise needs to go to DJ Mustard, who produced 95% of this album. His production is essentially what makes this album enjoyable. Usually DJ Mustard is known for making those heavy bassed strip club/twerk beats (like Tyga's "Rack City" and 2 Chainz "I'm Different"). Basically making beats for songs and rappers I don't care for. Now those same kinda beats are present on this album but blended with YG's lyric content and just the overall tone of the album, it's much more tolerable. The album got off to a good start. The third track "I Just Wanna Party" was a big stand out. I love this hard hitting beat that kinda took me back to 2Pac's classic album All Eyez On Me. In fact I could see 2Pac rapping on this track. But instead the track features a rather weak verse from Schoolboy Q and a very dope verse from Jay Rock whose been killing guest features lately. Nice track. Some tracks have very catchy but silly hooks. "Bicken Back Being Bool" is the best example. Now I do like the track because of it's catchiness but he really could have done more with that hook. I understand he reppin' his set (which by the way I had no idea he was blood affiliated) but pronouncing all the "c" words with "b" just sounded silly. Especially on the beginning skit. Either way, the red flag wavers will love this one. It's a "bool" song. Speaking of skits, he had a large number of them throughout this album that perfectly transitions through each track as he tells his day-in-the-life story. Much like Kendrick Lamar did on Good Kid, m.A.A.d City. Even thought the concept is not as good as Kendrick's. Anyway, I think the track I really enjoyed the most was "1 AM". I'm telling you there is so much early 90's west coast influence on this album and this is no exception. The haunting vibe from this beat reminds me of something from Ice Cube's Death Certificate. Hell I could even see Eazy-E story telling on this track. Lyrically it's not anything special (none of tracks are for that matter) but hard edginess of it makes it a nice track. Then there's the Drake assisted track "Who Do You Love" which has single written all over it. Once again, YG doesn't bring anything special tothe table lyrically but thanks to DJ Mustard again, that's easily ignored. Drake gets on and drops a rather good verse. A little fast paced for his style but it wasn't bad. Now yes, the beat saved this track and made it a fun listen but seriously, that "ay! ay! ay!" ad-lib in DJ Mustard's beats really gets irritating after a while. The original single "My Nigga" now has become tiring after countless radio spins. But when you listen to it in context with the album it's much more enjoyable. Not to mention the explicit version is a lot better as well. I get tired of hearing "my hitta my hitta" everyday on the radio. Now this track "Me & My Bitch" is basically his version of Biggie's classic track. Although the song itself is decent at best the topic message in the song is what I liked the most. Speaking on how he was played by a girl he thought he loved and how he wants nothing to do with her now after she tries to ask for forgiveness. We've all been there at some point. Definitely a change of pace from your normal songs for the ladies. Now my not so positives. I see what he was trying to do on "Meet The Flockers" teaching you the proper etiquette of breaking and entering. But why was this track so short like an interlude? In fact this was the case for a few songs. This track was more skit less song. I think that was just a waste of what could have been a great song concept. "Left, Right" will soon become the next big strip club song. This is DJ Mustard's true identity here as I mentioned before. I personally don't really care for it that much but I'm sure the females will enjoy posting their twerk videos dancing to this track. Speaking of the ladies, the worst song on this album to me was the main song for the ladies "Do It To Ya". The energy level just plummeted when it got to this track. The hook by TeeFLii was all kinds of bad. "Don't nobody beat the pussy up like me/who you know beat the pussy up like me". I mean who wrote that hook? Lil Wayne? Like I always say though, songs for the ladies is a weakness for many rappers so I'm not that surprised by this. I'm really on the fence with "Really Be (Smokin' N Drinkin')". I want to like this song more but I don't know. I'm really not feeling YG's flow on this at all. It's sounds like he was doing a bad impersonation of Too $hort. Then man...that opening line..."I woke up this morning, I had a boner". Biggest pause moment of the album. Honestly Kendrick Lamar's verse saved this track. But still it has some growing on me to do. I had the deluxe edition with three bonus tracks and I didn't care for any of them. "When I Was Gone" sounds like a rip off of Too $hort's "Blow The Whistle" speaking of him. "Bompton" had some of the worst lyrics of any of the tracks and "My Nigga (remix)" had all the wrong people on it. Lil Wayne? Meek Mill? Nicki Minaj? You would think he'd keep it local and gather some fellow west coast spitters for this remix. That would have been a hell of a lot better. Well in closing, the album didn't "wow" me but it certainly was so much better than what I was expecting. Lord knows if it wasn't for DJ Mustard's outstanding production this album would have probably been a major failure. I give this a final grade of a B. I believe YG is on to something here. This really could do well being the new sound of mainstream west coast. It's also the perfect way to bring gangsta rap back to the radio just like it was in the 90's. YG may have laid down a blue print here on how it really should be done. Lyrically he needs some work. A lot of work. But as long as this is the lane he chooses with his music then he'll be around for a while. He may even start a trend with this sound who knows. Will mainstream accept it? I don't see why not. It would be "bool" if they did. End.

Final Grade: B

CREDITS

Executive Producers

Keenon Jackson

Jay Jenkins

Dijon McFarlane

Sickamore (A&R)

Lead Artist
Keenon Jackson

Production

Dijon McFarlane

Tyrone Griffin

Michael Adam

Brandon Whitifield

Terrace Martin

Collaboration

Quincy Hanley

Johnny McKenzie

Jay Jenkins

Dequantes Lamar

Christian Jones

Aubrey Graham

Kendrick Duckworth

Tyrone Griffin

Dwayne Carter

Onika Maraj

Robert Williams

Natasha Mosley

Label

Pu$haz Ink/CTE World/Def Jam Recordings

Young Money - Rise Of An Empire ALBUM REVIEW

What is a hip hop dynasty? What makes a hip hop dynasty? It takes a group of some of hip hop's most popular names in mainstream to dominate over a period of time. We've seen a lot of them through the years. Lil Wayne should know fully what a hip hop dynasty is. He was apart of one of the most popular ones from the 90's. Cash Money Records. So obviously, he knows what it takes to build that kind of a hip hop army. 2009, the world was introduced to Young Money. A team of young and hungry artists looking for that big spotlight. Some of them got just that. Especially the two most notable names: Drake and Nicki Minaj. The rest of the young roster still holds their own. Consisting of Tyga (who's found some solo fame as well), Mack Maine, Gudda Gudda, Lil Twist, Jae Millz, Cory Gunz, Shanell and so on. After many many individual hit records from them all, it was time again for another compilation. This is the teams sophomore project Rise Of An Empire. Now their 2009 debut album We Are Young Money had some big singles. "Every Girl" and "Bedrock". But I wasn't really feeling it as a whole. Just a lot of "blah blah blah" rap about nonsense over radio friendly production. That's all they're really about. So it shouldn't be a shock that I really wasn't expecting anything great this time around. In fact I actually expected worse. Well...while I do think this was a major improvement from the last album, still the only word I can use to describe this is decent. Again, they coming with the same old generic nonsense about nothing. Money this, jewelry that etc. However, not only was the production stepped up a bit but a number of them stepped up their game lyrically. Yes I'm quite shocked at that. But as I expected, there's nothing too great about it as a whole. Just addicting radio friendly beats with catchy hooks that WILL get stuck in your head. Trust me it's already happened to me. Anyway now I'll break down what I enjoyed from this album. First of all like I said, a number of them stepped their rap game up. But also the new members shined big time. Most notably Euro. His solo track "Induction Speech" was definitely the best song on this album. It was the only song that was the perfect combination of good lyrics and a good beat. Much props to Omega for this beat. He dropped some really cool lines on this track too ("with punchlines you be K.O.'ed backwards if you get my hooks"). With his kind of rhyme style, he sounds to me like a much more serious and less simpified Drake. He also was dope on the intro track "We Alright" which also featured Birdman (who should have been left off totally) and Lil Wayne with his face palming lines: "can't recognize you niggas like Santa cut off his beard", "I know that ho better know, how to deep throat like a serpent". Seriously though, I felt Euro was the star of this album and he was only on three tracks. That's how big his impact was. Now with an album with this level of mainstream content, there's gonna be at least one guilty pleasure track. Mine was "Senile". A track with Tyga, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. It has this addictive deep, distorted bass beat and a very catchy hook. Though Tyga was blabbing about nothing he wasn't that bad. Then Nicki, who was tolerable on every track she was on, gets on and drops a cool verse too. But of course, Wayne gets on and ruins it. Continuing his onslaught of cringe worthy lyrics: "neighborhood nice and quiet, thought I saw Mr. Rogers", "take a newborn from his momma, stick a shoe horn in vaginas". Normally these kind of songs I hate but due to the beat and catchy hook, I kinda like it. Then there's Nicki Minaj's male bashing anthem "Lookin' Ass". When this had hit the internet it caused an outpouring of reactions. I for one think it's the best song Nicki has done in a long time. She sounds like the old mixtape Nicki before the YM deal. But I kinda laugh at this because sadly this song has become kinda irrelevant thanks to Cassidy and his immediate remake of it which bashes the females right back. Drake only appears on one song and he does it solo. The second track "Trophies". I love the beat with all the loud trumpets and other horns. Sounds very marching band like. Even Drake switching up his rhyme style a bit was alright. Switching up to something more louder and Meek Mill-ish. However I didn't like that boring hook. Drake's been real lazy with hooks lately I don't know why. But the song overall is enjoyable. Now...moving on to things I did not enjoy. First of all....Lil Twist...is horrible. Every song he was on was instantly ruined and intolerable. "Bang", "One Time", "Back It Up". All of them were bad because of him. Not even the beats could save them. It's not just because of his horrifyingly awful voice but his rhymes and lyrics are so fresh-out-of-middle-school that it's embarrassing. Anyway, this album starts strong, but right after "Lookin' Ass" is when the album starts to plummet and fall hard. "Fresher Than Ever" features Mack Maine, Gudda Gudda, Jae Millz, Flow and Birdman. Just looking at the songs title I knew I wasn't gonna like this. Look...I don't care about how many stacks you throwing in the club, how many cars are in your driveway, how many bottles you pop, how much your jewelry and outfits cost, how many chicks you smash a night or any of that. I swear that gets so old and boring. Also, Birdman...just needs to stop. He was probably the only person on this album that was worst than Lil Twist. "Moment" was Lil Wayne's solo track and well....you already know where I'm bout to go with this. "Boy you don't need to call a fireman to put a motherfucking match out", "like the world a crystal ball I keep rubbing it", I'm smoking getting head looking down trying to read lips", "I already made my mark please don't think I just pop corks". Yeah...no further comment on that song. The R&B party track "Hittin' Like" (did Shanell really just say "bet you wanna know what it feels like and what it smells like"? Wow.), the closing posse track "You Already Know", and all three of the deluxe edition bonus tracks we're just flat out lame to me. The whole second half of this album was a complete shipwreck. Well in closing, this was a definite improvement from their debut. Minus the same old generic topics, a few stepped their game up and a few didn't. Production was also greatly improved. I give this a final grade of a C+ (which let's be honest, that's damn near an A by their standards). So the question still remains. Is Young Money hip hop's newest dynasty? It may be a little too early to tell. But despite how myself and you all may feel about individual members or the group as a whole, they are a group that's built for long term success. Lil Wayne has done a good job assembling a unit capable of accomplishing that. After all, huge success and fame was a trait for many of hip hop's greatest dynasties. It also could be the case here. End. 

Final Grade: C+

CREDITS

Executive Producers

Dwayne Carter

Bryan Williams

Ronald Williams

Jermaine Preyan

Production

Chauncey Hollis

Noah Shabib

Sonny Uwaezuoke

Andrew Harr

Jermaine Jackson

Aaron O'Brien

Noel Fischer

Lexus Lewis

Anthony Norris

Paul Morton

Collaboration

Keenon Jackson

Widner DeGruy

Paul Morton

Mario Mims

Christine Flores

Robert Williams

Label

Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records

Ashanti - Braveheart ALBUM REVIEW

Sometimes, you just gotta wonder how some artists are able to maintain any level of relevance for over a long period of time. I say this because despite having such and up and down career, Ashanti has been able to do just that. We first heard her voice on the hook of Ja Rule's 2001 hit "Always On Time". Then she dropped her debut self titled album the very next year. Since then, Ashanti has been more of a "here today, gone tomorrow" type artist. One minute she'll drop a song or an album then after that, you won't hear from her for a year or two. As I said, up and down. Needless to say it's been quite difficult for her to remain consistent or relevant. But she is still around and always has been. That's something she makes light of as she returns now with this. Her fifth album Braveheart. I've never really listened to any of Ashanti's albums to be honest. Her last one was 2008's The Declaration and reading some of the critical reception for it, it wasn't too good to some. So yeah, no favorite album for me. However I do have a favorite song which is "Only U" from her 2004 album Concrete Rose. So with that said, I didn't have any kind of expectations for this album. I though this album was just barely above average. No other way to describe it. For a singer who's not really known for hitting those big high notes (which many have considered an issue of hers for years) it's hard to really categorize her style of R&B. At least it is of me. This album shows you just as much hip hop as it does R&B. As far as sound and production is concerned. She's done plenty of straight up R&B ballads in the past but there's very few here. Also, it seems as though there a huge emotional roller coaster going on through the album. She spends most of the time over coming tough obstacles and remaining strong throughout all the adversities. I myself had no idea she was going through any of this. It could explain why she's not around all the time. Anyway, I'll begin now with things I like. Honestly, all the songs with a strong hip hop sound I really enjoyed. Probably for that reason. On "Runaway" she samples the exact beat from LL Cool J's classic record "I Shot Ya". Just with a few more added drums and symbols. That's one of my favorite instrumentals of all time so that alone made me enjoy this. However, because of the beat the son sounds more like a mixtape freestyle that a full R&B song. Still enjoyable. Then the next track "Count" has a cool trap influenced beat. However, I think when people hear this Rihanna is gonna be the first thing they think of because this sounds like one of her songs. Ashanti even sounds like her a bit on the bridge part of the song. Despite the repetitive "count! count! count!" hook (y'all know I hate those), the song is tolerable. The first single "I Got It" has a catchy bounce to it that just makes you like it. Rick Ross is on the track dropping his usual lines about his riches and power but it wasn't a bad verse. Cool song. Then there's the high erotic track "Love Games". A duet with Jeremih. This grew on me after a few listens. The really good R&B duets are very rare today and I think this has the potential to be up there. Perfect midnight romance song. Of course, sex and romance is something Ashanti has shown before she doesn't mind teasing or even bragging about (see "Good Good"). Moving on, "She Can't" finds her being very cocky comparing herself to the next chick. Expressing how she looks better, loves better, better sex and so on. I normally hate when female singers do this and come with that "she ain't got nothing on this" attitude. That's that b.s. Beyonce' is on now and aggravates me with. But the beat pretty much saves this song which is why I can listen to it regardless of content.  On "Don't Tell Me No" she samples the beat from Keri Hilson's 2009 hit "Knock You Down". Here she expressing to her man not to say no and not to leave. Don't fight the love you have for her. I kinda laughed at that because that type of situation is normally reversed. But whatever the case, it's a okay song. Some that can relate will like it. Now the dislikes. Off top, I just can't get over how bad "Early In The Morning" is. This was nothing but a one big lame auto-tune fest. But what really ruined it? French Montana. He gets on the track and not raps, but sings in auto-tune. Future style. Bad, bad idea. I honestly would have rather heard Future on this than French Montana if he was gonna do that. Ironically though, this song does sound eerily similar to Rihanna's hit with Future "Loveeeee Song". I couldn't get with this at all. I ended up with the deluxe edition of this album which featured two bonus tracks: "Perfect So Far" and "Never Too Far Away". Both were snooze fests. These two tracks along with a couple other featured the biggest issue of the whole album. Something I mentioned at the top of this review. Her vocals. There's just some songs that project certain sounds that her voice just doesn't match. Nor does she have the kind of vocals to hit certain notes that would bring the song more to life. again, this was the main issue with this album. Overall, I thought the album is just a barely above average attempt. While it seems like a upgrade from her last album, it's an album that many will be very critical of because of what I mentioned and well...because who she is. I give this a final grade of a C. Ashanti names this album Braveheart for a reason. She's been at this for twelve years. All of the tough obstacles she had to overcome, all of the drama, all adversities. She still managed to be strong through it all. Yeah she may not have as good of a voice as other, yeah she's not always around like the other. But I can honestly say, there's probably no one more courageous or has a bigger heart. She is indeed brave. A braveheart. End.

Final Grade: C

CREDITS

Executive Producer

Ashanti Douglas

Lead Artist

Ashanti Douglas

Production

Mansur Zafr

Lenton Hutton

Sharif Slater

Noel Fischer

Eric Shaw

Timothy Bullock

Collaboration

Karim Kharbouch

Jeremih Felton

William Roberts

Anthony Davis

Label

Written Ent./eOne Music