I was looking forward to this. I rate Sermon highly and the idea of bringing back many legends over his production (that Erick first teased God knows how many years ago) only sounded like a winner. Nothing on here excites me though. Firstly, this two minute song trend needs to stop. Most of these songs lack a hook. And I mean that as a synonym for chorus and something to actually hook the listener in. Conventional three verse, around four minute songs, have a greater chance of doing that. The near-banger 'Sidewalk Executives' is the best thing here but it's just lacking a more distinctive chorus to be a great song. And that can be said for a number of these. 'Back 2 the Party' is the next best. It kind of feels more like I'd expect Sermon production to feel, and it has a distinguishable chorus. I don't know if Erick produced everything on here himself, but it's like instead of keeping to his style for a lot of this, he tried to create beats like the artists usually rap over. 'How Long' sounds very PE, 'The City' sounds very west coast that Daz and Kurupt would normally spit over, 'Sidewalk Executives' would fit on any M.O.P. album, and so on, which I don't think helps this. Instead of sounding like an Erick Sermon album, it sounds like a compilation of mid tracks from these artists. Nate (just) combines with Snoop by playing a bit part on the overly poppy 'Like That'. The small part he plays hardly fits the theme of the album with Ricco Barrino doing most of the work on the hook. It's almost as if they thought we'd be fooled. Since when were Conway and The Game a dynamic duo? And the same can be said for the rappers on 'No Gimmicks (Remix)', which minus the poor first verse is one of the better songs. The interludes are annoying. This one is a let down. If it happens this century, hopefully the hinted at Vol. 2 is a major step up. Beats: ★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★☆ Hooks: ★★ Best Tracks: Sidewalk Executives, Back 2 the Party