EWO's Hip-Hop Capsule Reviews Thread

[EyesWideOpen]

Due to amazon's mp3 sales, gohastings cheap price on used cd's and the prevelance of free mixtapes I've been into hip-hop hard over the last year or so. I've also been collecting all of certain artist's catalog so I can listen to them from start to finish. Ex: I'm currently listening through all of Busta Rhymes's solo albums. So I thought I'd bore you all with my thoughts on stuff.

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/Big_Boi_VLADR_zpsbdce5a13.jpg
Big Boi - "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors"

Released in December 2012. The album features guest appearances from Sleepy Brown, Phantogram, T.I., Ludacris, Kid Cudi, Little Dragon, Killer Mike, Kelly Rowland, A$AP Rocky, B.o.B, Wavves, Mouche, Scar, Bosko, Jai Paul, UGK, Big K.R.I.T., Theophilus London, and Tre Luce.

After feeling lukewarm on Sir Lucious Leftfoot (his last album) I was planning on skipping this album but like a lot of stuff I'm unsure of if amazon has it on sale I'll give it a shot and I'm glad I did. Big Boi talked in interviews about trying to make a song that has the same feel as the Drive soundtrack and I get that same feeling from alot of "Vicious Lies...". The use of Phantogram and Little Dragon on three songs apiece gives this album a nice sound that I'm not used to on hip-hop records. I'm used to generic R&B hooks and having interesting artists do the hooks is far more interesting.

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Highlights: Everything but specifically: "Objectum Sexuality", "She Hates Me", "CPU", "Lines"

The only track on this album I don't like is on the deluxe version "She Said OK"

Review: A+
My album of 2012

[D_Davis]

I don't listen to a ton of hip-hop any more, but I usually try to listen to a few new albums a year.

One group I always return to, though, is Cypress Hill. For me, the represent the '90s more than any other group, and I love their sound.

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/Busta-coming_zpsb4455d23.jpg
Busta Rhymes - "The Coming"

Busta Rhymes released "The Coming" his first solo album in March 1996. It featured guest appearances by Q-Tip, Jamal, Redman, Keith Murray, Zhane, Leaders of the New School and members of his Flipmode Squad (Spliff Star, Lord Have Mercy, Rampage).

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I remember being insanely excited for this album. Busta was coming off his scene stealing appearances on "Scenario" by Tribe Called Quest and the Craig Mack "Flava in Ya Ear Remix". The lead single was "Woo Hah!! (Got You All In Check)" and it still stands up as one of his strongest tracks. Going back listening to it nowdays Busta Rhymes is almost subdued on the majority of the album compared to his now well known persona. We get introduced to Flipmode Squad (althought missing my favorite member Rah Digga) with Lord Have Mercy and Rampage putting in great work. My memory was that "The Coming" was mediocre but I think it holds up as a good although rough debut album.

Highlights: "Woo Hah!! (Got You All In Check)", "Ill Vibe", "Flipmode Squad Meets Def Squad", "Everything Remains Raw"

Review: B

[Thirdmango]

I'm glad you're doing highlights. Busta has always been weird for me because I love love love a bunch of his radio hits and then when I get his album everything else is subdued. So I've lost a lot of will to give him a chance on other albums.

[EyesWideOpen]

I'm glad you're doing highlights. Busta has always been weird for me because I love love love a bunch of his radio hits and then when I get his album everything else is subdued. So I've lost a lot of will to give him a chance on other albums.

That's why I've been relistening to his whole catalog. His albums are a lot more solid then I remembered.

[Thirdmango]

Yeah, I actually have a bunch of them that I haven't yet listened to I'll have to look up which ones because it's been so long, but this thread will be of great importance to me. I love me the hip hops. I'm looking forward to checking out the Big Boi album.

[EyesWideOpen]

Yeah, I actually have a bunch of them that I haven't yet listened to I'll have to look up which ones because it's been so long, but this thread will be of great importance to me. I love me the hip hops. I'm looking forward to checking out the Big Boi album.

Busta Rhymes is one of the few hip-hop artists where his best tracks are almost always his singles. Most artists use the watered down stuff for their singles and the good stuff is on the album but not Busta. "Woo Hah" is by far the best track on "The Coming" and "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" and "Dangerous" are the two best tracks on "When Disaster Strikes".

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/Busta-Disaster_zps7c364236.jpg
Busta Rhymes - "When Disaster Strikes"

Busta released his second album in September 1997. It featured guest appearances by Jamal, Flipmode Squad, Anthony Hamilton, The Chosen Generation, Erykah Badu, Puff Daddy & Mase.

Busta goes alot easier on the guest appearances on his second album. On "The Coming" there was at least a Flipmode member on almost every track but with "When Disaster Strikes" he's gained some confidence and it isn't until the ninth track that we even get a guest rapper. His Flipmode Squad has gotten better also with Rah Digga putting in a great verse on "We Can Take It Outside" and Lord Have Mercy (who during this time period I was sure was gonna break out huge) stealing the show on "Get Off My Block". Busta's two best songs on this album "Put Your Hands..." and "Dangerous" showed he could make big hits and were great showcases for his unique rapping ability. There are a few missteps: "It's a Party" featuring Zhane off his first album ended up being a surprise hit and he tries to match it's pop crossover with "One' featuring Erykah Badu and "The Body Rock" featuring Diddy & Mase and both are not good songs especially the latter with Mase giving an incredibly poor verse even for his low standards.

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Sidenote: One of his biggest singles for this album "Turn It Up Remix/Fire It Up" (the one with the Knight Rider theme) isn't even on "When Disaster Strikes" it was only available as a single. And the "Turn It Up" featured on the album has nothing to do with the remix.

Highlights: "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See", "Dangerous", "Turn it Up", "Get Off My Block", "Rhymes Galore", "We Could Take It Outside", "So Hardcore"

Lowlights: "The Body Rock", "One", "Get High Tonight"

Review: B+

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/joeybadass_zps0fdd5f2d.jpg
Joey Bada$$ - "1999"

This mixtape was released in June 2012 (for free here (http://www.datpiff.com/Joey-Bada-1999-mixtape.361792.html)). The only guest appearances are by his crew Pro Era (who just released their own mixtape last week).

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This is one of the best mixtapes I've heard all year and has ended up on quite a few best album of the year lists and rightfully so. I've heard comparisons to "Illmatic" and I agree for a 17 year old to put out such a solid debut and have it sound fresh yet evoke 90's hip-hop is refreshing. The scary thing is that his crew is great also. The twelve minute closer "Suspect" gives them all a chance to shine and I look forward to Joey's official album and more from Pro Era.

Highlights: "Waves", "FromDaTomb", "Survival Tactics", "World Domination", "Pennyroyal", "Suspect"

Review: A

[D_Davis]

If all the songs are from one dude, then isn't it an album, and not a mixtape? I always have the hardest time determining what a mixtape is. My definition is that a mixtape is something we would make for friends that had a bunch songs by different bands. What does it mean in this context?

[EyesWideOpen]

If all the songs are from one dude, then isn't it an album, and not a mixtape? I always have the hardest time determining what a mixtape is. My definition is that a mixtape is something we would make for friends that had a bunch songs by different bands. What does it mean in this context?

In the hip-hop world mixtapes are projects that are released for free to drum up interest in the artist for their actual album. For indie rappers it also gets your name out for labels to hear about your stuff.

[D_Davis]

In the hip-hop world mixtapes are projects that are released for free to drum up interest in the artist for their actual album. For indie rappers it also gets your name out for labels to hear about your stuff.

AH. Thanks.

Interesting though, because I listen to mainly free hip-hop, but they just call them albums. Maybe it's because they have no intention of being signed?

Ever listen to anything on New Cocoon? This is probably my favorite hip hop label.

http://newcocoon.tumblr.com/downloads/

[EyesWideOpen]

Its also a way to release stuff you couldn't get sample clearance for that was supposed to be on your album or in the other case where you never would have been able to get sample clearance for. Example: on Captain Murphys new mixtape one song heavily samples actual dialog from The Dark Knight which he never would have gotten clearance on if he was selling it.

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/Busta-ELE_zps10b7938c.jpg
Busta Rhymes - "Extinction Level Event (Final World Front)"

Busta released his third album in December 1998. It featured guest appearances by The Flipmode Squad, Mystikal, Janet Jackson & Ozzy Osborne.

Busta really scaled back on guests on this album with only four songs out of 17 and he shows he's more then capable of handling it on his own. I love "Gimme Some More". The opening is so nonsensically awesome:

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The Ozzy Osbourne track is just weird and the Mystikal song is garbage but this is probably his most consistent album out of his first three.

Highlights: "Where We Are About To Take It", "Extinction Level Event (The Song of Salvation)", "Tear da Roof Off", "Against All Odds", "Gimme Some More", "Party Is Goin' on Over Here"

Lowlights: "Iz They Wildin Wit Us & Gettin' Rowdy Wit Us?"

Review: B

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/mrmfn_zps243256fc.jpeg
Mr. MFN eXquire - "Power & Passion"

Mr. MFN eXquire released his major label debut in November 2012. It features guest appearances by Gucci Mane & Goldie Glo.

I blind bought this EP because 1) it was cheap and 2) I had just read a news article on him and it mentioned El-P producing a track and 3) he looked interesting and the cover does also. Unfortunately this was a mistake. I've listened to it like four times now and I can safely say I hate "Power & Passion". The lyrics are generic misogynistic, homophobic nonsense which is too bad because the production is fantastic. I also have no idea why on an EP which only features six tracks he would use one of them to just be an interlude with him acting tough. His rapping ability is slightly above average but with such sub-par subject matter I won't be looking for any of his future projects.

Review: D (only because of the production)

[Thirdmango]

With the Quannum guys a mixtape is often a bunch of the guest stuff they do on other people's albums all mixed together with the help of a DJ who seamlessly segways the tracks together. But like EWO said it's also something you can usually only find on their website. LPs will make it into stores.

Busta's singles are such strange things. It took me forever to find "Don't Touch Me," which is my favorite song by him since it's only on a single.

[D_Davis]

But like EWO said it's also something you can usually only find on their website.

Right. Most of the hip hop I listen to is indie/DIY (netlabel) stuff (like the New Cocoon guys listed above, check them out). But they just call them albums.

What I'm gathering now is that people use the word mixtape to mean demo, to the point that it's lost its original meaning as a collection of a bunch of tracks mixed by a deejay into an album, which would sometimes (in the hip-hop world) feature different emcees rapping over the instrumental jams.

I think the hip-hop mixtape used to be more for the deejay, but now, with bedroom producing being so good, it's become the calling card for the all-on-one, producer/deejay/emcee artist.

[EyesWideOpen]

What I'm gathering now is that people use the word mixtape to mean demo, to the point that it's lost its original meaning as a collection of a bunch of tracks mixed by a deejay into an album, which would sometimes (in the hip-hop world) feature different emcees rapping over the instrumental jams.



I don't think demo is the right word though. When I think of demo tracks I think of unpolished or rough work. Today's modern context of hip-hop mixtape is just a "free album" most tracks are as polished and well produced as anything on their actual released albums. Like I mentioned before it could be stuff they couldn't fit on their actual album or couldn't afford to or the record label didn't want on. Mixtapes can be demo's of course but for the most part (at least now in the hip-hop world) it's just an all-encompassing term for free product.

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/flipmode_zps3c184a73.jpg
Flipmode Squad - "The Imperial"

The Flipmode Squad released their only album in September 1998. At this time the Flipmode Squad consisted of Busta Rhymes, Rah Digga, Lord Have Mercy, Baby Sham, Rampage and Spliff Star. The only guest appearance on "The Imperial" was Buckshot.

I to this day listen to this album pretty regularly. I've listened to "The Imperial" more then I've listened to all of Busta's solo records combined. It was actually hard choosing highlights because I really just view the album as a whole. There isn't any real standout singles that you would find on a regular Busta Rhymes album. The production is solid but not flashy and the hooks are pretty average but the rapping is high quality. If I had to pick negatives Spliff Star and Baby Sham aren't as interesting as the other four MC's and there are stupid skits at the end of like 8 of the tracks (which thankfully with itunes I can just cut off). But otherwise this is a really consistently solid album.

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Highlights: "To My People", "Run For Cover", "I Got Your Back", "Where You Think You Goin'", "Straight Spittin"

Review: B+

[D_Davis]

I don't think demo is the right word though. When I think of demo tracks I think of unpolished or rough work.

Right, which is why I mentioned how good bedroom productions are now. Demos can sound more polished now, some as good as anything commercially available.

I just think the term mixtape has lost its meaning, and prefer to call them albums, because that's what they are to me. A mixtape is something very different. I was even talking to my hip hop friends (Tricericorn - http://triceracorn.bandcamp.com/album/triceracorn (check these dudes out, pretty amazing stuff) and they don't really get the whole mixtape thing. They release their DIY albums for free.

Probably just a shift in semantics that I don't agree with. Chalk it up to me being old. ;)

[Mr. Pink]

Busta Rhymes was my favorite rapper for a long time, but I was always disappointed with his solo albums after loving When Disaster Strikes so much.

He promoted Flipmode Squad quite a bit, and I was a little disappointed they never seemed to break out very much. I love their album, though.

I bought Rampage's solo album and it was pretty disappointing. Once they lost Lord Have Mercy (probably my favorite of the bunch) I sort of lost interest in them, but still held out hope they'd hit with the mainstream crowd.

One of my favorites from When Disaster Strikes:

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One of my favorites from The Imperial:

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Side note: I was such a big fan of Busta Rhymes/Flipmode Squad as a teen, I won the runner-up prize in an online contest that didn't have a limit on the amount of times you could enter, and won a signed copy of one of his solo albums, and some other goodies.

[EyesWideOpen]

Busta Rhymes was my favorite rapper for a long time, but I was always disappointed with his solo albums after loving When Disaster Strikes so much.



I've owned Busta Rhymes albums after E.L.E. but I can't really remember much about them so these relistens will be interesting.

[EyesWideOpen]

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Meek Mill - "Dreams and Nightmares"

Meek Mill released his debut album in September 2012. It features guest appearances by Rick Ross, Nas, Big Sean, John Legend, Drake, 2 Chainz, Kirko Bangz, Wale, Trey Songz, Mary J Blige, Louie V and Sam Sneak.

This is one of those album's I only picked up because amazon had it on sale for $3.99. I had heard him on some other people's stuff and thought he was ok but nothing I would rush out to buy. Fortunately it turned out to be a pretty solid debut album. Meek is quite a charismatic rapper and that carries most of the songs. "Dreams and Nightmares" does tend to go too far into "wack R&B hook" territory especially in the second half of the album which makes most of my favorite tracks in the first half. Meek and Big Sean complement each other well on "Burn" my favorite track and Meek shows he can hold his own lyrically on the title track and "Traumatized".

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Highlights: "Burn" (only on the deluxe version), "Dreams and Nightmares", "In God we Trust", "Traumatized", "Believe It", "Amen"

Review: B-

[EyesWideOpen]

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Busta Rhymes - "Anarchy"

Busta released his fourth album in June 2000. It featured guest appearances by Flipmode Squad, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Roc Marciano, Lenny Kravitz, M.O.P., DMX and Jay-Z. It features production by a bunch of huge names (at the time): Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz, Large Professor, DJ Scratch, Jay Dee, Scott Storch and Rockwilder.

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"Anarchy" is another solid Busta album but four albums in he still hasn't had that breakout "great" album like many of his contemporaries. The guests on here are some huge names and favorites of mine but none of their featured songs really stand out. Swizz Beatz who was huge at the time produces two tracks but quite a few of the other tracks have that same Swizz Beatz sound so alot of the production kind of blends together. This is also the first Busta album with Roc Marciano who was brought into the Flipmode Squad after Lord Have Mercy left the group. I like Roc quite a bit but he doesn't have the standout style that Lord Have Mercy did. The two singles "Get Out!!" and "Fire" are two of my favorite tracks with the former being a homage/ripoff to Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life" Annie sample but it works and holds up.

Highlights: "Salute Da Gods!!", "Bladow!!", "Fire", "Get Out!!"

Review: B-

[EyesWideOpen]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/NasIllmatic_zps0c349186.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/gothamcentral79/media/NasIllmatic_zps0c349186.jpg.ht ml)

Nas - "Illmatic"

Nas released his debut album in April 1994. It features production by Nas, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and L.E.S.
The only real guest appearance is AZ on "Life's a Bitch" although Q-Tip does the hook for "One Love".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_srvHOu75vM

I can't believe this album is twenty years old. It sounds as fresh today as it did back when it came out. I remember seeing the video for "The World is Yours" on MTV back when I was 15 and liking it so much I went down and bought it. This is probably the most fully formed debut album in the history of hip-hop and still considered one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.

Highlights: "The World Is Yours", "N.Y. State of Mind", "Life's a Bitch", "One Love"

Review: A+

[quido8_5]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc261/gothamcentral79/NasIllmatic_zps0c349186.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/gothamcentral79/media/NasIllmatic_zps0c349186.jpg.ht ml)

Nas - "Illmatic"

Nas released his debut album in April 1994. It features production by Nas, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and L.E.S.
The only real guest appearance is AZ on "Life's a Bitch" although Q-Tip does the hook for "One Love".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_srvHOu75vM

I can't believe this album is twenty years old. It sounds as fresh today as it did back when it came out. I remember seeing the video for "The World is Yours" on MTV back when I was 15 and liking it so much I went down and bought it. This is probably the most fully formed debut album in the history of hip-hop and still considered one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.

Highlights: "The World Is Yours", "N.Y. State of Mind", "Life's a Bitch", "One Love"

Review: A+

Truly a classic. It's lean, visceral and reassuringly bleak. I used to listen to it a lot when I was teaching and felt it really hard not to play "Life's a Bitch" in front of my freshman. They totally needed it. I did, however, celebrate the 20th anniversary with my students. Sad how many kids don't know the seminal hip hop records of 1994.

Love this thread, by the way. Have you ever listened to "The World Is Yours" by Scarface? It's unlike anything I've ever heard and truly goes hard as a motherfucker.

[EyesWideOpen]

Truly a classic. It's lean, visceral and reassuringly bleak. I used to listen to it a lot when I was teaching and felt it really hard not to play "Life's a Bitch" in front of my freshman. They totally needed it. I did, however, celebrate the 20th anniversary with my students. Sad how many kids don't know the seminal hip hop records of 1994.

Love this thread, by the way. Have you ever listened to "The World Is Yours" by Scarface? It's unlike anything I've ever heard and truly goes hard as a motherfucker.

I have not. I have listened to very little Scarface in my life. I owned "The Diary" back in the mid-90's and liked it but never searched out more. I'll check out "The World is Yours".

[EyesWideOpen]

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Nas - "It Was Written"

Nas released his second album in July of 1996. It featured guest appearances by Foxy Brown, Dr. Dre, The Firm, Havoc, JoJo, Mobb Deep and Lauryn Hill. It featured production by Trackmasters, DJ Premier, Live Squad, Dr. Dre, Havoc and L.E.S.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUwJ8WcZ6RY

This album has the reputation as Nas selling out but I don't really see that. It's a common complaint about hip-hop followup albums and I think it's more that usually the first album is made for a low budget and it's songs you've been working on for a long time. The followup you finally have money so you can afford pricier producers and guest stars but at the same time the writing usually isn't as good because these songs aren't the one's you wrote when you were struggling to make it. The main knock is that Trackmasters handled most of the production and they were known for a more mainstream sound but they produced four of my favorite songs on the album. The only track that I think doesn't work is the Dr. Dre track "Nas is Coming". The hook and production are goofy and the opening discussion between Dre and Nas is cheesy as hell. "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" with Lauryn Hill was the jam when I was in high school and still is a fantastic song. DJ Premier kills it as usual on "I Gave You Power" which has Nas rapping from the perspective of a gun and on "Affirmative Action" we see Nas's Firm crew for the first time (Foxy Brown, AZ, Cormega and Nas) with probably their best song (their only group album (where Cormega was replaced by Nature) was not well received). Shortly after this is when Foxy Brown got huge and it's disappointing she kind of fell off the way side she could go hard with the best of them but unfortunately her subject material never matured and she disappeared.

Highlights: "The Message", "I Gave You Power", "Affirmative Action", "Shootouts", "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)"

Lowlights: "Nas is Coming"

Review: B+

[EyesWideOpen]

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Nas - "I Am..."

Nas released his third album in April 1999. It featured guest appearances by Puff Daddy, Scarface, DMX and Aaliyah. Production is provided my a ton of people most notably DJ Premier, Timbaland, Poke & Tone and L.E.S.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_7Nc9_90DQ

Mediocre. That's the word to sum up this album. Gone is the Nas from Illmatic (except on the DJ Premier cuts "N.Y. State of Mind II & "Nas is Like", why can't we get a Premier produced Nas album?) and instead we get generic gangster raps and production, laughable (and deplorable) sex advice, and bad hooks. In "Big Things" Nas attempts (very very poorly) a sped up Twista style of rap and the last three tracks besides being lame on their own also have the worst hooks on the album. At the end of "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" where Nas spells Fucking for the tenth time in a row I started to wonder what the hell Nas was thinking and how did no one in the studio say "Stop. We get it." "Hate Me Now" is probably the most famous song on this album and it's a great track and one of the few standouts.

Highlights: "N.Y. State of Mind II", "Hate Me Now", "Nas is Like"

Lowlights: "Dr. Knockboot", "Big Things", "K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

Review: C-

[EyesWideOpen]

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Rawkus Records - "Soundbombing 1"

This is a Rawkus Records compilation album released in October 1997. It features tracks by Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Company Flow, R.A. the Rugged Man, Shabaam Shadeeq, Kool Keith and others. Production is handled by a bunch of Rawkus producers most notably Hi-Tek and El-P.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REmk_4mx1UY

This was actually the first time I've listened to this album (I picked it up at Amoeba Records in LA this week). I was a fan of Rawkus Records in the late 90's/early 00's but the Lyricist Lounge albums and Soundbombing II are where I started. I love Soundbombing II so when I finally listened to this one I guess I was overhyped for it because it's kind of a letdown. It's not a bad album but the production overall is pretty boring and you get Evil Dee yelling throughout the album at the beginning of tracks and sometimes during them which is annoying. But onto the positives you can tell even early on that Mos Def and Kweli were destined for greatness as they are involved in the best songs on here. "Fortified Live" and "Universal Magnetic" really do a great job of showing you what makes these two artists great. The production on both songs keeps them from being tracks that I would consider top tier Kweli/Mos Def stuff but for a early album they are worth a listen.

Highlights: "Fortified Live", "Universal Magnetic", "What If", "2000 Seasons"

Review: C

[EyesWideOpen]

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Busta Rhymes - "Genesis" (terrible album cover)

Busta Rhymes released his fifth solo album in November 2001. It features guest appearances by Rah Digga, Flipmode Squad, P. Diddy, Jaheim, Mary J Blige, Kelis, and Pharell. Notable production by Jay Dee, Dr. Dre, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Pete Rock, and Diamond D.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gcMtfcNE-k

Another decent Busta album with some good tracks and alot of just ok ones. The Dr. Dre production (he does three of the songs) along with Pete Rock and The Neptunes (who do two tracks) are all great although in the case of the two Neptunes tracks are hampered by mediocre hooks or for "What It Is" by a terrible Kelis performance. There is also a bunch of bad skits stuck at the end of songs with just really awkward sexual dialogue. "Shut 'Em Down 2002" is a great old school Busta sounding track produced by Pete Rock and I would love to have Busta put more of this type of stuff on his albums. The guest appearances disappoint also with the only note-worthy one being Rah Digga on "Betta Stay Up In Your House".

Highlights: "Shut 'Em Down 2002", "Betta Stay Up In Your House", "Break Ya Neck", "Holla"

Lowlights: "Wife in Law", the skits

Score: C+