With this being the trio's first album together for over a decade, while being excited about the new material as I'm a big fan, it was hard to anticipate anything too special from one of the better rap groups of the nineties. Specifically when their last album together is easily the one I play least out of their discography. And also that the two or three singles they have released have not been up too the old standard. However, 'Icons', the last album from Naughty without DJ Kay Gee was a pretty good effort. And it isn't like they have reunited as such, as they have been touring the globe all this time everywhere from Iraq to Australia. The title of this album really suits the type of hip hop they've made, as plenty of their best tracks, while many not fitting under the pop-rap heading were chorus based tracks and can get a crowd moving. One thing to mention here is that Vinnie has really taken a back seat. He is barely on any of these new tracks, and doesn't spit a verse. Treach is the better rapper, so it isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is perhaps surprising.
The album itself begins quite well demonstrating that Treach has not lost any of his skills throughout the years, and the opening three songs are fairly hard hip hop. If you've been keeping yourself up to date you would have probably heard tracks four to six before. The pop rap begins from 'Perfect Party' and stretches for three tracks. There is nothing outstanding here, but 'Name Game' is a nice uplifting kind of track, and is similar to 'I Know It's Like' a few tracks further on. 'Perfect Party' is the weakest of these three tracks despite it fittingly featuring one the best artists mainstream R&B has had over the past two decades.
The founder of Naughty, Queen Latifah combines with her former proteges on the conscious 'God Love Us' which isn't bad pop rap. 'Guns and Butta' is the most gutta track on the album, and it would have been nice to hear Treach on this for another verse as opposed to the features. Treach's rhyme pattern on 'Ride' is great over another hard beat. The hook is uncreative, that can be said for a few tracks, but Treach hits the verses. 'Impeach the Planet' could be cited as one of the better tracks here - nice hard beat, but again like 'Guns and Butta' it would have been good to hear Treach for another verse. Again the hook on 'Doozit' is simplistic, "That's how we doozit", but it's another reasonable track to close out the new songs.
Being a celebration of Naughty By Nature's 20 years (22 if you include 'Independent Leaders') in the game, the album concludes with five of Naughty's classic anthems. All of these tracks have been remastered and rerapped. Listening to these show the slight change in Treach and Vinnie's vocals twenty years later. In comparison to the originals 'Uptown Anthem' is quite similar. The rapping isn't as crisp on 'Hip Hop Hooray', although maybe you'll be able to understand the lyrics with less effort. I think MJ's vocals have been removed from 'O.P.P.' and have been resung by someone. 'Feel Me Flow' sounds as if the production has been taken down a notch - probably the worst re-recorded track here. Treach sounds really hungry on 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright', and is perhaps easier to comprehend in some of the fast portions of the song compared to the original. Again the piano sounds more crisp, but the beat is pretty much the same. Overall all of these songs don't offer too much new - for newcomers I guess.
Overall, I like the new tracks, KayGee has done a good job on most of the beats making it a very easy album to listen to, and you can tell he has been messing with R&B a lot over the years, and Treach is still an absolute joy to hear. I can't say that they have rediscovered the secrets to making a classic anthem in 2011 though, with there not being a superb song on offer. It provides a good mixture between hip hop and pop rap, although maybe the pop rap will be a touch too poppy for some, with songs like 'God Is Us'/'Flags'/'Perfect Party', being more poppy than they have created previously. There is nothing sensational, but if you like Treach's style then the beats are good enough to get something out of this.
Best Tracks: Naughty Nation, Throw It Up, I Gotta Lotta, Name Game (Remember), Impeach the Planet
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