(NOTE: Yes, this album released a little over a month ago and I'm very late posting this review. I had the review written already then but never got to post it anywhere. So here it is.)
Joe Budden has certainly come a long way from his "Pump It Up" days in 2003. Many of his days and/or years in between was spent on the underground scene dropping numerous mixtapes and a one album. Today he is now a member of the lyrical super group Slaughterhouse and has a deal with Eminem's Shady 2.0 label. This year makes ten years since he debuted in the game, it was only right, after all the mixtapes for him to come with a new studio album to celebrate his ten year anniversary (even though that's probably not what he's really doing). Here we have No Love Lost. His third album. It's hard to really compare this to his two previous albums cause for one they came out so far apart ("Joe Budden" in 2003 and Padded Room in 2009) and also he's changed a lot since. So I won't do that. A lot of that change he speaks of on this album. This album for me seemed very...well...moody. As in the mood keeps changing drastically as the album goes on. Now when I first looked at the track list I'll admit I got worried. I saw features like Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, Lil Wayne, Kirko Bangz, Juicy J etc. I was praying this would not sound like a desperate mainstream attempt like last year's Slaughterhouse album was. Turns out it wasn't that bad. But here's what I meant by moody. The first 3 tracks, "Top Of The World", the single "She Don't Put It Down" and "NBA" are all radio friendly. I want to believe he put these songs first just to get them out the way to get to the good shit. Right after these tracks things start to get serious. "You And I" sounds like somewhat of a romantic message to some girl. I think it might be Tahiry but I don't know this nigga fucks around with a lot of females. After that is when starts reflecting on his life and mostly his career. "All In My Head", which was also featured on his mixtape Loose Quarter, and "Skeletons" talk about it the most. Two of my favorite songs on the album. On "All In My Head" both Joe and Royce Da 5'9" make mentions of "skeletons in the closet" which then leads to the great transition from that song to the song "Skeletons" with no break in between. Then the next part of the album he starts switching gears towards the ladies. "Switch Positions" I actually do like. Especially the hilarious "Role Play" interlude right before it. I miss when rappers used to do those funny sex related skits. Then "Tell Him Somethin" is another slow jam where Joe is trying to tell the girl to tell her man why he's better and what he's doing for her etc. Don't really like that much because of that topic and the fact that its long as hell for no damn reason. Like seven minutes. A lot of the songs I disliked came towards then end like "Runaway" and "My Time". Probably the two most boring songs on the whole album. "Last Day" to some is a good bump-in-the-whip song because of the beat but ehh...didn't feel it that much. Lloyd Banks sounds weird rapping fast. I guess that one will have to grow on me. The overall production was a little weak for me. Could have been better and more energetic. Lyrics obviously were good. That's what he does best. Overall though, This album was decent at best. I think he has mixtapes better than this. If you a fan his you might be slightly disappointed with certain tracks on here but the rest you might like. If your not a fan, just download it, give it a listen and delete it if don't like it. I give it a final grade of a C. I like Joe Budden, but after hearing this, I think I'm more looking forward to his next mixtape than his next album. End.
Final Grade: C
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